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SERMONS 

BY 

THE  RIGHT  REVEREND 

STEPHEN  ELLIOTT,  D.D., 

LATE  BISHOP  OF  GEORGIA. 

WITH 

%  Memoir, 

BY 

THOMAS  M.  HANCKEL,  Esq. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  POTT  AND  AMERY. 
1867. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867,  by 
Mrs.  Charlotte  B.  Elliott, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York. 


RIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE: 
STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED  BY 
H.  O.  HOUGHTON  AND  COMPANY. 


cf  1     S  o  t 

The  Right  Reverend  Stephen  Elliott,  for  more  than  twenty- 
five  years  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Georgia,  and  whom  God  has 
recentlv  called  to  his  rest,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Beaufort  in  the 
Estate  of  .SWA  Carolina,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1806.  He  was 
the  oldest  son  of  Stephen  Elliott  of  South  Carolina,  who  was 
known  in  that  day  as  a  scholar,  an  eloquent  writer,  and  an  en- 
thusiastic student  of  science,  especially  of  the  beautiful  science 
of  Botany ;  and  whose  name  and  character  are  among  the 
grateful  traditions  of  the  society  in  which  he  lived.  His  mother 
was  Esther  Habersham  of  Georgia  ;  and  his  family  have  always 
maintained  close  and  affectionate  relations  with  that  great  State. 
He  himself  claimed  that  he  belonged  to  both  States.  Especially 
after  he  was  called  to  preside  over  the  Diocese  of  Georgia,  with 
that  gracious  wisdom  which  was  eminently  characteristic  of  the 
man,  it  was  his  habit  freely  and  heartily  to  declare  that  he  was  a 
true  son  of  Georgia,  and  that  he  was  ready  to  serve  her  with  the 
love  of  a  grateful  child,  as  well  as  with  the  zeal  of  a  faithful 
Bishop. 

When  his  father  removed  to  Charleston  in  1812,  young  Stephen 
Elliott  came  with  him,  and  was  prepared  for  College  at  the  school 
of  Mr.  Hurlburt,  at  that  time  a  distinguished  and  successful 
teacher  in  that  city.  In  the  Fall  of  1822,  he  went  to  Harvard 
College,  and  entered  the  Sophomore  Class  in  that  Institution.  He 
remained  at  Harvard  until  the  Fall  of  1823,  when,  at  the  desire  of 
his  father,  who  wished  him  to  graduate  in  his  native  State,  he  took 
an  ad  eundem  to  the  South  Carolina  College,  and  in  November  of 
that  year  was  there  admitted  to  the  Junior  Class.  Among  his 
classmates  was  the  late  Hon.  James  H.  Hammond,  afterwards 
widely  known  as  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  a  gifted  writer,  and 
an  eloquent  debater  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Another  was  the  late  Hon.  Thomas  I.  Withers,  who 
became  a  distinguished  jurist,  and  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
learned  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  South  Carolina.  He 
graduated  in  1825,  with  the  third  honor  of  his  class.    Upon  his 


166609 


iv 


Memoir. 


graduation  he  studied  law  in  the  office  of  the  laroeuted  Jarnes  L. 
Petigru,  the  foremost  lawyer  of  h?s  day,  who  was  the  intimate 
friend  of  his  father,  and  for  whom  he  retained  through  life  a  most 
affectionate  reverence  and  regard.  He  was  called  to  the  bar  in 
1827. 

It  was  at  this  period  of  his  life  that  the  great  political  questions 
of  State  Sovereignty  and  Free  Trade  arose,  and  shook  the  country 
by  the  weight  and  magnitude  of  the  argument.  Subsequent  events 
have  given  grave  importance  to  the  opin  ons  he  then  formed  on  this 
agitating  subject.  Our  reader-*  would  be  unable  to  understand  or 
appreciate  a  most  eventful  portion  'is  life  and  a  well-known 
phase  of  his  character,  if  we  were  to  pass  over  fn-^  early  imp*""- 
sions.  The  ardent  and  talented  young  scholar  and  lawyer  took  a 
keen  and  active  interest,  in  the  momentous  issues  of  that  high 
debate.  Upon  clear  conviction,  he  was  a  States'  Rights  man  in  the 
highest  and  best  meaning  of  those  words,  and  was  through  life 
the  warm  and  unwavering  supporter  of  that  school  of  political  doc- 
trine. He  believed  in  the  simple  scory  of  the  Sovereignty  of  the 
States  of  the  Federal  Union  as  he  read  it  in  every  child's  history 
of  the  early  settlement  of  the  Colonies,  and  the  later  independence 
of  the  States.  He  believed  that  this  Sovereignty  was  the  true  and 
almost  the  only  conservative  element  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
only  effective  check  upon  the  usurpations  of  the  central  Govern- 
ment, when  the  latter  should  be  controlled  by  the  selfish  interests 
of  classes,  the  mad  passions  of  party,  or  the  wild  delusions  of  the 
populace  ;  —  that  conservative  element  which  alone  made  a  free 
and  magnificent  republic  possible.  He  believed  that  the  liberty 
of  the  States  was  the  Heaven-given  shield  of  the  liberties  of  the 
peoples ;  —  that  the  freedom  of  the  Union  was  the  real  strength 
and  perfect  health  of  the  Union.  He  loved  his  own  State  very 
dearly,  and  he  believed  that  an  honest,  genuine  and  practical  love 
of  the  country,  was  best  felt  and  expressed  in  a  just  and  generous 
love  of  the  State.  Some  will  call  this  weak,  will  call  it  narrow  ; 
but  let  us  consider  if  it  is  not  that  weakness  and  narrowness  of 
Nature  itself,  which  is  stronger  and  broader  than  the  fictions  of 
men,  which  is  deeper  than  the  creed  of  the  philosopher  and  wiser 
than  the  calculations  of  the  statesman.  It  is  the  sacred  and  un- 
changeable love  of  the  child  for  his  home,  and,  through  his  home, 
for  his  father-land.  But  let  us  not  wrangle  over  his  bier  to  pass 
judgment  on  these  opinions.  There  is  enough  else  that  all  can 
admire,  and  honor,  and  love.  It  were  well,  however,  for  Christian 
people  to  remember,  that  these  opinions  have  been  held  by  men 


Memoir. 


v 


who  have  served  the  whole  country  with  unquestioned  devotion 
and  illustrious  success,  and  of  whom  history  must  speak  with  un- 
qualified honor.  It  would  be  wise,  it  would  be  happy,  for  the 
country  to  respect  at  least  the  honesty  and  earnestness  of  their 
convictions  and  their  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  what  they  believed 
to  be  truth. 

It  was  at  this  time  also,  that,  as  a  junior  colleague  and  one  of  the 
younger  friends  and  companions  of  the  gifted  Hugh  S.  Legare,  he 
shared  in  the  fortunes  of  the  renowned  old  "  Southern  Quarterly 
Review,"  and  the  brilliant  literature  it  illustrated.  His  father 
had  founded  this  Review,  and  he  worked  enthusiastically  for  its 
success.  He  was  probably  too  young  at  the  time  to  have  contrib- 
uted many  articles :  it  is  known,  however,  that  he  wrote,  and  wrote 
well,  for  its  pages,  and  helped  to  make  it  what  it  was.  In  after 
years  he  always  spoke  with  pride  and  enthusiasm  of  the  power  and 
brilliant  though  brief  career  of  that  famous  journal,  as  a  noble 
monument  of  the  scholarship  of  his  native  State  at  that  day. 

He  practised  law  in  Charleston  for  several  years,  when,  upon  the 
retirement  of  a  distinguished  practitioner  from  the  Bar  of  Beau- 
fort, he  removed  to  the  latter  place  to  succeed  to  his  office  and 
business.  His  return  to  his  birthplace  was  a  happy  hour  for  him. 
He  dearly  loved  the  old  place  and  its  people.  He  loved  the  bright 
waters  and  the  broad  bays  of  the  country  round ;  and  through  life 
it  was  the  delight  of  the  stately  Bishop  to  come  back  among  those 
scenes  from  time  to  time,  and,  wandering  along  the  neighboring  sea- 
shore, breathe  again  the  boisterous  breath  of  the  Atlantic,  while  he 
gathered  with  the  keen  zest  of  no  mean  naturalist  the  beautiful 
shells  and  the  curious  things  which  the  seething  surf  brought  to  his 
feet:  nothing  loath,  either,  to  join  with  eager  energy  in  the  bold 
and  stirring  sports  of  the  sturdy  young  boatmen  around  him. 

He  came  back  to  Beaufort  to  practice  law,  but  a  different 
destiny  awaited  him  there.  At  this  time,  not  long  after  the  period 
when  the  Church  of  England  had  roused  itself  from  its  lethargy 
to  a  deeper  and  quicker  sense  of  its  high  mission  and  duty,  and 
the  teachers  of  a  more  active  and  energetic  faith  had  become  a 
power  in  the  Church,  and  when  the  eloquent  energies  of  Chalm- 
ers had  begun  to  wake  the  Church  of  Scotland  also  from  the 
deep  slumber  of  the  "  Moderates,"  the  truths  of  religion  known  as 
evangelical  were  preached  with  unusual  fervency,  power  and  effect 
in  the  ancient  and  secluded  town  of  Beaufort.  Aside  from  the 
mysterious  breathings  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  as  accepted  by  many, 
it  was  a  community  peculiarly  open  to  impressions  from  such  a 


vi 


Memoir, 


source.  Thoroughly  educated,  cultivated  and  refined ;  isolated 
from  the  turmoil  of  life  and  from  the  tide  of  the  world  ;  bred  to  a 
high,  self-reliant  and  unflinching  sense  of  duty  and  a  generous  de- 
votion to  truth  :  the  solemnity  and  pathos,  the  overwhelming  obli- 
gation, the  supreme  necessity  and  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  the 
doctrines  then  preached,  appealed  with  irresistible  power  to  its 
people. 

Among  a  somewhat  remarkable  group  of  young  men,  not  un- 
known, who,  at  that  time,  made  open  profession  of  their  faith  and 
high  resolve,  and  have  since  truly  kept  the  word  and  honor  they 
then  pledged,  was  the  gifted,  accomplished  and  graceful  young  ad- 
vocate who  had  recently  come  back  to  his  early  home.  Not  many 
days  later  he  turned  away  from  the  allurements  of  pleasure,  and 
the  hopes,  honors  and  emoluments  of  public  and  professional  life, 
to  enroll  himself  as  a  teacher  of  the  truths  he  believed,  and  a  Min- 
ister at  the  Altars  of  the  Church  in  which  he  worshipped. 

Early  in  the  year  1833  he  became  a  Candidate  for  the  Ministry 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  entered  with  character- 
istic ardor  upon  the  work  of  preparation  for  the  duties  of  the 
sacred  office.  He  threw  himself  into  his  new  studies  with  all  the 
devotion  of  a  most  earnest  Christian,  the  vigor  of  a  profound 
thinker,  and  the  high  aims  and  disciplined  tastes  of  a  scholar.  To 
save  the  souls  of  sinful  men  he  esteemed  the  greatest  and  noblest 
work  that  could  engage  the  energies  of  earnest  men,  —  the  most 
necessary  work,  indeed,  demanded  of  man  by  the  piteous  wants  of 
his  race.  To  teach  the  truth  and  preach  the  Gospel  of  God's 
grace  and  Christ's  Atonement,  he  believed  to  be  the  ordained  and 
most  effectual  means  of  saving  men  and  reforming  the  world.  His 
work  of  preparation  for  his  duties,  therefore,  was  honest,  thorough, 
varied,  and  unsparing,  as  knowing  that  the  teacher  and  defender 
of  the  Truth  must  win  power  over  strong  men.  He  was  ordained 
a  Deacon  by  the  Right  Reverend  Nathaniel  Bowen,  Bishop  of  the 
Diocese  of  South  Carolina,  at  Charleston  in  that  State,  in  the  Fall 
of  1835.  He  officiated  as  minister  in  charge  of  the  Parish  of 
Wilton,  South  Carolina,  for  one  month,  when  he  was  elected  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  South  Carolina  College  to  the  chair  of  Sacred  Liter- 
ature and  the  Evidences  of  Christianity  in  that  Institution,  to 
which  also  the  Chaplaincy  of  the  College  was  attached.  He  was 
ordained  Priest  in  the  year  1836. 

Thus  early  was  he  called  to  high  offices.  And  perhaps  the 
reader  who  never  saw  him  will  follow  us  more  fully  and  easily  in 
what  we  have  further  to  say,  if  we  here  endeavor  to  describe  the 


Memoir. 


vii 


very  striking  form  and  presence  of  the  late  Bishop.  Long  of  limb 
and  tall  of  stature,  with  a  full  and  vigorous  frame,  thoroughly  yet 
easily  erect,  with  full  high  brow,  finely  chiselled  features  and  lofty 
crest ;  with  a  soft,  beaming  blue  eye,  and  a  complexion  fair  and 
fresh,  without  being  ruddy ;  exquisitely  graceful  in  his  carriage, 
and  quiet  and  easy  in  his  movement,  with  his  thin  dark  hair  float- 
ing lightly  around  and  from  his  head :  his  was  a  figure,  as  he 
passed  along  the  crowded  thoroughfare,  upon  which  men  turned  to 
gaze,  and  the  eyes  of  women  rested  with  tenderness  and  venera- 
tion. 

His  presence,  though  graceful,  was  eminently  dignified  and  com- 
manding. It  quietly  expressed  a  very  sensitive  deference  for  the 
opinions  and  feelings  of  others,  ready  to  hear  and  quick  to  appre- 
ciate :  yet  a  full  and  steady  reliance  on  himself.  It  is  told  of  him 
that  once,  at  a  country  tavern  where  he  had  stopped  for  the  night, 
a  poor  inebriate  was  recklessly  bantering  the  bystanders,  when  his 
attention  was  arrested  by  the  appearance  of  the  stately  Bishop, 
and  awed  and  sobered  for  the  moment  by  his  commanding  look 
and  towering  form,  he  turned  to  him  and  exclaimed,  "  And  who 
are  you?  Are  you  a  Judge?  or  a  Member  of  Congress?  or 
Governor  of  the  State  ?  Well,  if  you  ain't  any  of  these,  you  ought 
to  be  !  "  That  which  was  felt  by  this  poor  fellow  has  been  felt  by 
the  highest  and  wisest  and  best  in  the  land  in  the  same  presence. 
Often  have  we  watched  that  tall  and  graceful  figure  come  swinging 
along  the  College  grounds  in  company  with  grave  professor  or 
cheerful  student,  in  serious  talk,  or  with  his  rich,  soft,  hearty  laugh 
ringing  out  at  some  merry  jest,  and  been  conscious  that  a  living 
grace  was  added  to  the  picturesque  scene  within  the  bounds  of  the 
venerable  school. 

It  must  be  left  to  his  biographer  to  speak  fully  of  his  career  as  a 
Professor,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  he  performed  the  duties  of 
his  Chair.  But  we  can  say  that  each  and  every  one  of  those  whose 
names  stand  upon  the  roll  of  the  proud  old  College  in  those  bright 
days,  as  well  as  all  others  who  watched  and  cherished  its  progress 
at  that  time,  learned  to  love,  admire,  honor,  and  revere  him  there. 
He  was  the  pillar,  the  pride  and  the  ornament  of  the  College.  It 
was  his  Alma  Mater,  and  he  took  the  deepest  interest  in  its  wel- 
fare. Its  students  formed  the  congregation  to  whom  he  preached 
the  Gospel,  and  over  whose  expanding  thoughts  and  hearts  he 
watched  and  prayed.  He  yearned  to  make  it  a  school  of  high 
learning,  a  rich  source  of  truth  and  refinement,  and  the  centre  of 
a  generous  intellectual  citizenship  to  the  State.    "  Will  you  let 


viii 


Memoir, 


other  States  breed  your  scholars  ?  "  exclaimed  he,  on  one  occasion 
to  one  of  the  classes,  "  and  will  you  be  content  to  be  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water  to  them  ?  "  In  his  own  person  he 
showed  them  how  high  and  gracious  and  precious  a  thing  was  the 
pure  gift  of  learning  and  the  culture  of  letters,  the  charm  and  the 
power  of  the  scholar.  In  the  lecture  room  his  clear  and  vigorous 
analysis,  and  his  rich,  polished,  and  often  passionate  words,  taught 
them  how  to  think,  and  how  to  utter  their  thoughts.  His  hopeful 
voice  cheered  everybody.  And  he  here  exhibited  a  marked  char- 
acteristic of  his  whole  life.  He  deeply  and  gladly  sympathized 
with  every  aspiration  after  a  higher  culture,  however  humble.  He 
encouraged  each  to  do  his  best,  although  that  best  might  be  but 
little.  To  him  the  aspiration  itself  was  a  grace,  the  effort  itself 
was  elevating.  To  him  there  was  every  imaginable  difference  be- 
tween the  high  aims  of  even  the  weak,  and  the  dull  recklessness 
of  aimless  strength.  Among  the  best  scholars  in  the  College, 
there  came  at  that  time  from  the  rural  districts  many  uncouth  and 
awkward  youths.  No  man  had  a  keener  sense  of  the  humorous 
than  our  lamented  Bishop,  the  then  Professor,  or  found  it  harder 
to  keep  from  laughing  when  moved  by  mirth.  It  was  not  in  na- 
ture, therefore,  for  him  not  to  laugh  heartily  sometimes,  at  these 
queer  fellows.  But  while  he  laughed,  he  loved  them.  The  very 
grotesqueness  of  their  simple  and  earnest  strength  seemed  to 
charm  him.  It  was  like  the  joy  of  a  mother  in  the  babbling  blun- 
ders of  her  brightest  child.  It  was  beautiful  to  see  how  tenderly 
he  protected  them,  how  hopefully  he  guided  them,  how  quickly 
he  felt  the  weight  and  caught  the  gleam  of  the  pure  gold  in  the 
rugged  ore.  We  here  recall  an  incident  which  illustrates  the  ex- 
quisite tact  and  kindness  with  which  he  cheered  and  guided  his 
scholars.  A  young  student,  little  more  than  a  boy  in  years,  but 
among  the  foremost  in  his  class,  was  standing  his  first  examination 
in  mathematics  before  the  assembled  members  of  the  Faculty. 
He  was  nervous  and  excited,  and  as  he  answered  the  questions 
which  were  propounded  to  him,  he  kept  snapping  and  wasting  the 
piece  of  chalk  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  until  there  was  but  a  scrap 
left,  with  which  to  write  his  figures  and  draw  his  diagrams.  Pro- 
fessor Elliott  was  watching  his  examination  with  curious  and 
pleased  interest,  when  he  saw  the  predicament  in  which  he  was 
placed.  Rising  quietly  from  his  seat,  he  strolled  down  the  room, 
picked  up  a  handful  of  chalk,  which  could  neither  be  broken  or 
wasted,  and  with  a  droll  and  inimitable  grace,  handed  it  to  the  ex- 
cited youth.  A  smile,  a  grateful  look,  a  "Thank  you,  sir,"  in  reply, 


Memoir. 


ix 


and  the  frightened  probationer  was  at  his  ease  before  his  exam- 
iners, and  passed  triumphantly  through  the  ordeal,  without  any 
more  faltering,  or  again  scratching  his  nails  on  the  blackboard. 
It  was  but  a  little  thing  to  do  ;  but  it  was  kindly  and  wisely  done, 
and  shows  us,  in  miniature,  the  gracious  arts,  the  gentle  wisdom, 
and  the  practical  sagacity,  with  which  afterwards,  as  a  Bishop,  he 
governed  his  Diocese,  and  by  which  he  won  the  confidence  and  af- 
fection of  all  portions  of  his  State,  all  denominations  of  Christians, 
and  all  classes  of  men.  He  dearly  loved  books ;  to  be  among  them, 
and  to  handle  them.  He  was  a  connoisseur  in  print  and  paper  and 
binding.  He  took  an  eager  and  active  interest  in  the  new  library 
building,  the  foundation  of  which  was  laid  under  his  auspices.  He 
sedulously  watched  and  pushed  forward  its  construction.  And  when 
it  was  finished  and  all  was  ready,  carefully  were  the  books  carried 
under  his  eye  from  the  old  room  where  they  had  stood  so  long,  to 
a  fitter  resting-place.  Right  gladly  he  called  his  pupils  around 
him  to  help  him  to  receive  and  arrange  them.  When  the  great 
boxes  which  contained  the  recent  importations  of  the  best  and 
richest  English  editions  of  the  best  and  greatest  authors  —  brought 
there  by  the  prodigal  bounty  of  the  State  to  her  favorite  Institution 
—  were  opened,  his  enthusiasm  broke  forth,  and  he  dwelt  with  all 
a  scholar's  delight  upon  their  beauty  and  value.  And  when  all  the 
work  of  arrangement  was  nearly  done,  he  turned  to  the  group 
around  him  and  said,  in  his  own  rich  tender  tones:  "Now,  young 
gentlemen,  I  will  expect  in  after  years,  each  one  of  you  who  can 
afford  it,  to  bring  some  work  of  art,  some  statue,  bust  or  picture  to 
adorn  these  alcoves."  It  was  thus  he  taught  the  young  novices  of 
his  school  to  love  books,  and  art,  and  letters,  and  learning.  We 
turn  sadly  away  to  think  how  many  proud  hopes  and  glad  anticipa- 
tions, which  then  swelled  in  his  generous  heart,  have  been  crushed 
and  buried  under  the  red  floods  of  war,  in  ruin,  grief,  desolation 
and  blood. 

But  it  was  for  a  comparatively  brief  period  that  he  was  permitted 
to  fill  the  Professor's  chair.  The  Church  at  whose  Altar  he  served, 
and  to  whose  Ministry  he  had  been  ordained,  summoned  him  to 
her  work.  She  called  him  to  a  higher  and  larger  sphere  of  useful- 
ness. He  obeyed  without  a  question.  In  the  summer  of -1840,  he 
was  elected  the  first  Bishop  of  Georgia.  In  December  of  the 
same  year,  not  without  some  natural  regrets,  he  took  leave  of  the 
College  which  he  had  loved  and  served  so  well,  and  early  in  1841 
he  was  consecrated  to  his  Bishopric  at  Christ  Church,  Savannah, 
by  Bishops  Meade,  Ives,  and  Gadsden. 


21 


Memoir. 


The  limits  of  this  Memoir  will  not  permit  us  to  speak  fully  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  duties  of  his  holy  office  were  discharged. 
The  task  of  organizing  and  building  up  a  new  Diocese  was  a  try- 
ing one.  We  know  that  his  Dicoese  loved  him  sincerely,  and  was 
heartily  proud  of  him.  It  has  recently  declared  its  sense  of  bereave- 
ment at  his  death, "  as  too  deep  to  find  expression  in  the  common 
terms  of  grief  and  mourning ;  "  and  that  they  "  desire  to  place  on 
record  their  high  appreciation  of  his  remarkable  qualifications  for 
the  Episcopal  office,  exercised  for  more  than  twenty-five  years  ;  his 
profound  acquaintance  with  human  and  divine  learning ;  his  pre- 
eminent power  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God ; 
his  keen  insight  into  the  motives  and  instincts  of  men ;  his  tact 
and  ability  in  administering  his  Diocese  ;  his  watchfulness  and  ten- 
der sympathy  for  all  the  flock  committed  to  his  care  ;  his  interest 
in  the  welfare  of  our  colored  population  ;  his  careful  avoidance  of 
party  issues  and  all  extremes  in  doctrine,  discipline  and  worship ; 
and  his  cautious  endeavors  to  pursue  the  quiet,  conservative  paths 
trodden  by  the  wisest  and  most  honored  Fathers  of  the  American 
Church." 

As  a  pulpit  orator,  without  aiming  to  be  subtle  or  metaphysi- 
cally profound,  he  was  clear,  vigorous,  eloquent,  and  often  strik- 
ingly original  in  the  defence  and  illustration  of  accepted  truth. 
His  style  was  passionate  as  well  as  exceedingly  pure  and  graceful. 
He  had  rather  the  rich,  massive  and  commanding  manner  of  Mil- 
ton, South,  and  Jeremy  Taylor,  than  that  of  the  polished  wits  and 
piquant  essayists  of  Queen  Anne's  reign ;  with  some  touch,  also, 
of  the  quaintness  of  those  earlier  worthies.  To  his  students  he 
always  commended  the  first  as  the  better  models. 

It  was  in  the  earlier  days  of  his  Episcopal  administration  that 
he  sacrificed  his  private  fortune,  and  reduced  himself  to  poverty 
and  want,  in  his  uncalculating  efforts  to  establish  an  eminent 
school  for  female  education  at  Montpelier,  in  the  centre  of  his 
Diocese.  No  man  had  a  higher  estimate  of  the  blessings  of  a 
healthy  and  thorough  education.  His  zeal  in  this  work  rose  to 
enthusiasm.  He  therefore  established  this  school  at  Montpelier, 
for  the  instruction  of  the  young  women  of  his  Diocese  in  that 
learning  and  those  accomplishments  which,  according  to  his  con- 
ception of  her  character  and  duties,  a  Christian  woman,  whose 
station  in  life  permitted  it,  ought  to  know  and  acquire.  Large 
sums  had  to  be  expended  in  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings  and 
the  necessary  outfit  of  the  Institution.  It  was  his  ardent  wish  that 
every  thing  should  be  thoroughly  done.    When  the  funds  at  his 


Memoir, 


xi 


disposal  were  exhausted,  he  unhesitatingly  pledged  his  private 
property  and  credit  for  the  completion  of  the  undertaking.  His 
obligations  were  all  faithfully  met.  and  the  debts  he  incurred  were 
all  paid.  But  it  left  him  without  a  dollar  ;  and  he  had  scarcely  the 
means  of  providing  the  daily  bread  of  his  family.  He  had  been 
accustomed  from  early  youth  to  the  refinement,  independence  and 
dignity  of  an  ample  fortune.  He  had  never  known  what  it  was 
to  owe  what  he  could  not  punctually  pay.  The  cares,  anxieties 
and  heavy  burdens  therefore  of  this  period  of  his  life  were  keenly 
felt,  and  his  spirit  was  deeply  wounded.  But  he  met  them  all 
with  the  firmness,  patience,  gentleness,  and  humility  of  one  who 
had  counted  the  cost  of  his  holy  service.  Dp  to  this  time  he  had 
received  but  a  comparatively  small  salary  as  Bishop,  and  this  had 
been  chiefly  expended  for  Church  objects  and  for  charitable  pur- 
poses. The  people  of  his  Diocese  now  came  forward  affectionately 
and  generously  to  his  aid.  and  provided  an  adequate  income  for  his 
support.  It  was  well  done,  and  was  gratefully  received.  We 
spoke  only  the  simple  truth  when  we  said  that  his  people  loved  and 
honored  him. 

At  a  later  period,  in  the  same  spirit  of  generous  and  untiring 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  education,  together  with  the  heroic  Bishop 
of  Louisiana  and  the  gentle  and  eloquent  Bishop  of  Tennessee.  — 
and  when  these  three  stately  men  stood  together  it  was  a  group  for 
the  painter's  pencil.  —  he  projected  and  labored  earnestly  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  great  Southern  University,  which  he  trusted  would 
one  day  become  a  beneficent  centre  of  learning  and  letters  to 
our  Southern  land.  And  this  he  did  in  no  spirit  of  narrow  preju- 
dice against  other  sections  or  other  seats  of  learning.  As  we  have 
said  before,  he  did  indeed  dearly  love  the  South.  He  cherished 
and  honored  her  traditional  spirit  of  social  order  and  conservative 
republican  liberty.  He  believed  that  there  was  much  that  was 
peculiar  and  valuable  in  the  life,  society,  character,  traditions  and 
history  of  her  people  that  ought  to  be  fostered  and  sheltered. 
But.  besides  this,  he  was  also  firmly  persuaded,  that  even  as  re- 
gards the  development  of  a  national  life  embracing  all  sections 
and  latitudes  of  the  Union,  a  better,  healthier  and  nobler  national 
life  and  character  would  be  developed  by  the  establishment  of 
many  centres  of  wealth,  power,  education  and  influence,  than  could 
be  produced  under  a  system  by  which  whole  territories  —  equal 
each  of  them  in  extent  to  great  European  kingdoms  —  should  be 
overshadowed,  provincialized,  and  materially,  morally  and  intellec- 
tually enfeebled  and  impoverished,  by  an  abject  dependence  on  one 


xii 


Memoir. 


stupendous,  turbulent  and  despotic  centre  of  commerce,  arts,  manu- 
factures, publication,  science,  literature,  learning  and  government. 
It  was  in  this  faith  that  he  labored  so  earnestly  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  great  Southern  school  as  a  balance  of  power  in  the 
country. 

The  work  was  begun.  But  the  fair  prospects  of  the  splendid 
enterprise  were  blighted  by  the  opening  of  that  tremendous  strug- 
gle for  the  political  independence  of  the  Southern  States  —  their 
society,  institutions,  civilization,  constitutional  law,  and  traditional 
policy  —  which  was  to  agitate  and  overshadow  the  closing  scenes  of 
his  life.  In  this  struggle,  holding  the  views  of  public  law  and  pol- 
icy which  he  did,  trained  in  the  political  school  to  which  we  have 
referred,  it  was  not  difficult  to  see  where  Bishop  Elliott  would 
stand. 

But  the  story  is  too  sad  to  dwell  upon.  He  shared  in  the  labors 
of  a  thousand  other  heroes  who  suffered,  or  bled,  or  died,  all 
in  vain.  He  placed  his  Church  by  the  side  of  the  State.  He 
cheered  and  comforted  his  suffering,  bleeding,  fainting  people  with 
words  of  the  deepest  pathos  and  tenderness.  He  sent  his  sons  to 
the  battle,  with  his  pure  kiss  on  their  brows  and  a  father's  blessing 
in  their  hearts.  And  when  all  was  over  —  and  all  in  vain  —  and 
the  cause  was  lost,  he  bowed  his  head  without  a  murmur  to  the  will 
of  his  God,  and  turned  to  the  new  duties  which  lay  before  him 
with  the  hope  and  energy  of  an  unflinching  faith,  and  the  calm 
dignity  of  an  unconquered  heart. 

In  looking  back  at  the  life  of  Bishop  Elliott,  there  are  one  or  two 
points  of  his  character  upon  which  it  will  be  grateful  to  touch. ' 

In  Church  and  State  he  was  eminently  conservative.  He  dearly 
loved  that  which  was  old  as  well  as  excellent  —  the  truth  and  the 
practice  that  is  taught  by  ancient  precedent,  and  established  by 
ancient  custom.  But  so  ardent  a  temper,  and  a  nature  so  sensi- 
tive, aesthetic  and  enthusiastic,  could  not  but  sympathize  with  all 
honest  and  genuine  progress.  In  matters  of  religious  faith  he 
rested  in  Revelation,  believing  that  a  Creed  was  perfect  at  the  time 
it  was  revealed.  In  questions  of  public  liberty  he  rested  immov- 
ably in  great  principles.  But  in  other  matters  of  Church  and 
State  he  clung  to  the  ancient  landmarks  of  history,  rather  as  tests 
by  which  to  measure  the  truth  and  the  earnestness  of  the  new  and 
progressive,  than  as  impassable  barriers  to  change.  And  in  the 
fields  of  science,  and  commercial  and  material  progress,  he  was  full 
of  enterprise  and  enthusiasm,  and  passionately  anxious  that  his 
fair  Southern  land  should  press  forward  with  unflagging  stride  in 
the  great  march  of  modern  civilization. 


Memoir. 


xiii 


His.  too,  was  an  exceedingly  happy  temper.  "  The  lines  have 
fallen  unto  me  in  pleasant  places."  were  words  which  not  unfre- 
quently  dropped  from  him  in  confidential  intercourse.  It  was  this 
buoyant,  happy  nature  which  so  often  brought  the  healing  of  life 
to  the  sad  and  wounded  spirits  of  his  people.  Doubtless  there  was 
in  this  a  deeper,  ghostly  joy  in  his  holy  office,  on  which  we  dwell 
reverently ;  but  there  was  also,  we  can  see,  a  human  and  exulting 
gladness  in  the  vigorous  exercise  of  his  intellectual  gifts,  and  in 
the  beneficent  use  of  the  graceful  power  which  he  wielded. 

In  harmony  with  this  conservative  yet  aspiring  nature,  this  stead- 
fast yet  progressive  spirit,  this  faithful  yet  happy  temper,  this  love 
of  the  true  combined  with  an  enthusiastic  appreciation  of  the 
beautiful,  was  the  grace,  dignity,  justice,  and  kindness  of  his  per- 
sonal and  official  intercourse  with  his  colleagues  on  the  Bench  of 
Bishops.  They  will  gladly  and  affectionately  bear  witness,  that  he 
was  courteous  and  generous  in  debate ;  that  he  was  too  well  aware 
of  the  imperfection  of  human  language  in  the  expression  of  spirit- 
ual ideas,  too  profoundly  conscious  of  the  mystery  of  religious 
thought,  and  yet  too  clearly  convinced  of  the  essential  harmony  of 
-a  Scriptural  faith,  to  be  indignant  at  formulas  which  were  not  alto- 
gether like  his  own,  or  alarmed  at  methods  of  argument  which, 
while  they  embraced  the  whole  circle  of  Heavenly  truth,  might 
begin  and  end  at  a  part  of  its  circumference  different  from  his  own 
stand-point ;  that  he  was  too  earnestly  devoted  to  fundamental 
truth  to  be  vindictive  towards  error  that  was  less  than  heresy  ;  that 
his  was  too  great  a  heart  and  too  noble  a  nature  to  suffer  him  to  be 
the  adherent  of  a  clique,  or  the  follower  of  a  party ;  that  in  his 
judicial  acts,  he  was  fair,  wise,  gentle,  clear  in  his  knowledge  of 
law  and  his  perceptions  of  right,  and  utterly  scornful  of  a  shade 
of  selfishness  or  malice  ;  and  that  in  counsel  he  was  a  peace- 
maker among  his  brethren,  and  a  bond  of  union  amidst  discordant 
opinions  and  conflicting  policies.  The  heart  of  many  a  venerable 
prelate  has  been  made  sad  by  the  thought  that  they  shall  see  his 
face  no  more. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  life  and  the  nurture,  culture 
and  graces,  of  the  distinguished  Bishop  for  whom  Georgia 
mourns. 

In  contemplating  his  character,  we  feel  that  he  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  much  that  is  highest  and  best  in  Southern  society ; 
and  we  rejoice  that  so  much  at  least  of  Southern  history  is  safe 
beyond  danger  or  question.  Such  a  life  and  character  ought  to 
be  the  full  and  sufficient  answer  to  those  who  believe  or  declare, 


xiv 


Memoir, 


that  the  traditional  institution  which  has  heretofore  existed  in  the 
South,  and  which  has  been  made  the  occasion  of  so  much  grief 
and  agony  to  the  country,  was  of  necessity  degrading  to  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  its  people.  If  we  turn  to  the  higher  forms  of  a 
cultivated  social  life  and  a  beneficent  civilization,  and  look  at  the 
representative  men  of  the  South,  the  country  may  well  remember 
and  rejoice,  that  nothing  can  strike  from  their  history  the  life  and 
the  labors,  the  name  and  the  fame,  of  Georgia's  great  Bishop,  and 
men  like  him.  If  we  consider  on  the  other  hand  the  results  to  the 
African  race,  of  the  institution  under  which  they  lived,  as  it  was 
practically  administered,  even  here,  —  whatever  may  be  our  ab- 
stract opinions  as  to  its  policy  or  our  moral  judgments  as  to  its 
justice,  —  all  right-minded  and  candid  men  who  know  the  facts, 
will  admit  that,  under  the  providence  of  God,  the  negro  has  been 
greatly  benefited,  his  best  qualities  have  been  developed,  and  the 
whole  race  has  been  greatly  elevated.  Whether  that  institution  was 
righteous  or  not,  it  has  been  mercifully  administered.  The  South 
received  from  the  coast  of  Africa  about  one  million  of  degraded 
savages ;  and  under  its  generous  and  wholesome  discipline,  they 
grew  to  be  four  millions  of  skillful,  thrifty,  cheerful  and  industrious 
laborers,  a  larger  number  of  civilized  and  christianized  people  than 
have  ever  been  directly  reclaimed  from  the  barbarian  heathen, 
since  the  early  days  of  Christianity :  —  not  wholly  contented  with 
their  lot,  it  may  be,  but  as  contented,  perhaps,  as  the  poor  of  any 
country  are  contented  with  their  poverty.  The  South  received 
them,  a  debased,  brutish  and  repulsive  people,  to  whom  chastity 
was  an  unknown  virtue  and  a  strange  idea,  and  honesty  was  the 
fear  of  punishment  or  the  want  of  opportunity ;  whose  notion  of 
public  justice  was  the  trial  by  poison ;  whose  native  tongue  was  a 
barbarous  gibberish ;  who  trusted  in  fetishes,  believed  in  greegrees, 
and  alone  of  human  kind  worshipped  the  Evil  Spirit.  These  are 
the  people  whom  their  Southern  rulers,  by  their  mingled  kindness 
and  discipline,  by  their  justice  and  their  gentleness,  have  made  such 
a  people  as  to  call  forth  the  extravagant  eulogies  of  those  who 
now  have  charge  of  their  welfare,  and  who  now  claim  for  them 
the  full  rights  and  the  highest  privileges  of  the  proudest  and  most 
enlightened  American  citizen.  It  is  not  our  office  nor  is  this  the 
place,  to  say  whether  these  eulogies  are  wholly  merited,  or  these 
claims  well  founded.  But  what  these  people  are,  all  men  can  see; 
and  such  as  they  are,  no  man  will  deny  that  the  South,  under 
God's  providence,  has  made  them.  No  other  portion  of  the  world 
has  contributed  a  man  or  a  dollar  to  the  work  ;  while  eminent 


Memoir, 


xv 


scholars  of  the  South  like  our  gifted  Bishop,  as  masters  and  teach- 
ers, have  been  conspicuous  laborers  in  the  merciful  though  humble 
task.  He  was  earnestly  devoted  to  the  duty  of  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  negroes  of  his  Diocese.  He  summoned  his  whole  people 
to  the  work,  as  the  great  mission  to  which  they  were  called,  the 
special  field  of  Christian  labor  to  which  they  were  dedicated. 
Some  of  his  most  eloquent  and  impassioned  addresses  were  de- 
voted to  this  theme.  He  spoke  often  and  plainly,  earnestly  and 
solemnly,  on  the  subject.  He  held  his  people  to  a  strict  responsi- 
bility for  the  spiritual  and  eternal,  as  well  as  the  physical  and  tem- 
poral, welfare  of  those  over  whom  they  ruled.  He  sent  missiona- 
ries and  established  missions  among  the  negroes  wherever  he 
could.  He  led  the  way  by  his  personal  labors.  He  founded 
S.  Stephen's  Church  for  colored  people  in  the  city  of  Savannah. 
He  placed  its  secular  affairs  under  the  charge  of  a  colored  vestry. 
They  looked  up  to  him  as  their  firmest,  wisest,  and  noblest  friend. 
At  his  burial  they  gave  a  touching  and  beautiful  evidence  of  the 
love  and  reverence  they  bore  him.  The  colored  vestry  of  S. 
Stephen's  asked  to  have  the  honor  of  carrying  him  to  the  grave ; 
and  it  was  granted  to  them.  It  did  honor  to  them,  and  to  their 
Bishop.  Considering  the  peculiar  and  momentous  issues  of  the 
time,  we  think  it  was  the  grandest  and  most  instructive  spectacle, 
amidst  all  the  solemn,  mournful,  and  agitating  ceremonies  of  that 
day,  on  which  the  city  of  Savannah  was  hushed  to  listen  to  the 
footfalls  of  those  who  thus  bore  their  Bishop  to  the  tomb. 

We  have  paused  to  speak  of  this  feature  of  Bishop  Elliott's 
character,  because  no  readers  of  the  following  pages  will  be  able 
to  forget  that  he  was  a  Southern  slaveholder,  and  a  representative 
of  Southern  society.  The  sinfulness  or  the  righteousness  of  African 
slavery,  its  evils  or  its  wisdom,  are  no  longer  practical  questions. 
Under  the  Providence  of  God,  the  institution  itself  has  been  de- 
cisively and  forever  ended.  The  questions  pertaining  to  it  belong 
to  the  issues  of  the  past,  to  be  reviewed  only  at  the  judgment-seat 
of  God,  and  before  the  tribunal  of  History.  But  the  real  charac- 
ter of  Southern,  society  and  Southern  men  is  indeed  at  this  time 
a  most  practical  question.  It  is  of  momentous  import  that  the 
country  should  see  it  as  it  is,  and  judge  of  it  with  wisdom  and 
with  justice. 

Since  the  close  of  the  fearful  struggle  which  has  shaken  the  very 
foundations  of  American  society,  the  people  of  the  South  have  ex- 
hibited a  kindly  sympathy  with  their  former  dependents,  an  intelli- 
gent submission  to  necessity,  an  obedience  to  law  and  a  regard  for 


xvi 


Memoir. 


social  order,  combined  with  a  firm  self-respect,  which  have  merited, 
we  think,  the  approbation  of  all  men.  What  it  has  cost  them  to 
do  this,  is  known  only  to  God.  That  they  have  been  able  to  do  it, 
has  in  some  measure  been  the  result  of  the  habit  of  self-control, 
the  daily  sense  of  responsibility,  the  patient  encounter  with  neces- 
sary evils,  the  carefulness  for  the  welfare  of  their  laborers,  and  the 
frequent  interchange  of  acts  of  kindness,  to  all  of  which  they  were 
compelled  by  their  Anglo-Saxon  education,  by  the  spirit  of  liberty 
and  Christianity  within  them,  by  the  very  necessities  of  their 
anomalous  institution,  and  by  its  practical  administration  in  the 
presence  of  Christendom.  Of  these  great  qualities,  in  their  grace 
and  power,  Bishop  Elliott  himself  was  a  splendid  example.  And 
when  the  representatives  of  these  Southern  Dioceses  shall  again 
enter  that  august  Council  of  the  Church,  which  will  meet  not  two 
years  hence,  they  will  think  mournfully  and  regretfully  of  him  who, 
by  right  of  age  and  service,  would  have  stood  at  their  head.  They 
will  recall  the  exquisite  grace,  the  sensitive  delicacy,  the  lofty  wis- 
dom and  charity,  the  calm  dignity,  the  unblenching  crest,  and  the 
commanding  presence  which  could  neither  be  overawed  by  the 
disapprobation  of  others,  nor  yet  could  ever  needlessly  and  unbe- 
comingly offend  their  opinions  or  provoke  their  prejudices.  May 
the  full  and  complete  folds  of  his  shining  mantle  fall  on  other  shoul- 
ders equal  to  the  high  office  which  would  have  devolved  upon  him  ! 

In  looking  at  his  completed  life,  there  was  one  remarkable  gift 
of  this  remarkable  man  on  which  we  dwell  with  deep  and  grateful 
emotion,  and  which  all  who  ever  knew  him  will  recognize  at  once. 
We  speak  of  the  thorough  humanity  of  his  nature :  and  by  this 
we  mean  the  wealth  and  strength,  the  breadth  and  fullness,  of  the 
deep  human  sympathies  in  which  the  learning,  wisdom  and  graces 
of  his  nature  were  veiled  —  veiled  as  light  is  veiled  in  color,  as 
thought  is  veiled  in  words,  as  feeling  is  veiled  in  music.  His  life 
seems  to  have  been  the  rich,  healthy  growth  of  early  training  and 
happy  influences.  He  grew  as  the  tree  grows  from  the  bursting 
germ,  outwards  and  upwards,  year  by  year,  circle  upon  circle,  into 
strength  and  majesty :  yet  with  the  life  and  form  of  the  germ  all 
there,  with  the  fibre  and  firmness  of  each  circle  there,  all  thor- 
oughly sound,  —  sound  to  the  core;  all  lending  strength  to  its 
growth,  proportion  to  its  column,  and  grandeur  to  its  sheltering 
arms.  His  childhood  took  on  his  boyhood,  and  his  boyhood 
his  manhood,  and  his  manhood  passed  into  the  wisdom  of  years, 
all  complete  in  the  fullness  of  that  great  and  bounteous  na- 
ture, whose  deep,  broad,  human  sympathies  thus  made  him  the 


Memoir. 


xvii 


friend  and  companion  of  young  and  old  and  of  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  men  :  made  him,  too,  as  mindful  of  the  gentle  cour- 
tesies and  sweet  charities  of  life  with  little  boys  and  girls 1  and 
humble  men,  as  he  was  easily  at  home  amidst  the  grander  graces 
of  social  and  official  intercourse  with  the  wise,  the  great,  the 
learned  and  honored  in  the  land. 

Doubtless  to  the  eye  of  that  Omniscience  which  heeds  the  life 
and  service,  the  death  and  fall,  of  the  humblest  sparrow  among  all 
the  feathered  tribes  that  praise  Him,  the  whole  life  of  a  man  is  the 
man.  As  the  spirit  of  the  living  man  penetrates  and  is  bounded 
by  every  nerve  and  atom  of  his  living  body :  so,  to  that  Eye,  the 
soul  of  every  man  is  incarnate  in  his  life,  from  the  first  wail  of  the 
infant  to  the  last  sigh  before  the  grave  which  thus  completes  the 
full  measure  of  his  being,  and  the  perfect  "  image  and  superscrip- 
tion "  of  his  identity.  So,  to  some  special  natures,  it  is  given  to 
carry  in  their  memory  a  clear  and  sensitive  consciousness  of  each 
period  of  their  lives,  and  each  vital  shape  of  their  humanity. 
And  thus  did  the  gifted  man  whom  we  mourn  seem  to  have 
grasped  the  full  outline  of  his  own  life,  and  with  the  sensitive 
glance  of  genius,  conceived  and  realized  each  part  and  character 
in  which  he  had  lived,  and  was  thus  vividly  conscious  of  himself 
to  himself.  His  merry  childhood,  his  bounding  boyhood,  his  lusty 
youth  and  aspiring  manhood,  were  all  the  familiar  companions  and 
friends  of  the  genial  man,  the  allies  and  counsellors  of  the  august 
sage.  And  so  the  happy  child  that  climbed  to  his  breast  laughed 
and  kissed  with  the  happy  child  which,  as  from  a  mirror,  laughed 
and  kissed  back  again ;  and  the  gallant  boy  shouted  to  the  bright 
lover  of  fun  within,  who  shouted  back  in  echo ;  and  the  vigorous 
youth  felt  his  outstretched  hand  clasped  by  the  hand  of  compan- 
ion whose  steady  grasp  closed  faithfully  over  his  own.  And  the 
pale  and  impassioned  student  met  the  answering  glance  of  youth- 
ful student  with  "  eyes  of  speculation  "  rapt  in  study.    And  the 

1  In  a  memorial  sermon  by  the  Eev.  Henry  K.  Eees,  Rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Macon,  Ga.,  we  find  the  following  characteristic  anecdote  :  — 

"  And  well  might  children  love  him,  for  he  saw  in  them  the  purest  and 
truest  representatives  of  his  Holy  Master  on  earth.  In  illustration  of  his 
reverent  tenderness  towards  them,  a  touching  and  beautiful  incident  occurred 
during  his  last  visitation,  when  in  an  hour  of  home  relaxation,  he  watched  the 
play  of  the  little  one  of  the  household,  who  in  her  glee  threw  off  her  shoe.  The 
venerable  Bishop  knelt  before  the  child  and  was  replacing  it,  when  the  father 
said,  "  Little  Mary,  you  are  greatly  honored."  "  Honored,"  said  the  kneeling 
Bishop,  "  O  no,  whose  shoe's  latchet  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

b 


xviii 


Memoir. 


struggling  man  found,  in  this  wise  confessor,  one  who  could  un- 
derstand the  story  of  his  life,  because  he  retained  a  vivid  mem- 
ory of  his  own.  Higher  than  all,  he  seemed  to  have  kept  the 
memory  of  mother  and  sister ;  and  the  shrinking  maiden  might 
look  into  that  loving  heart  without  faltering,  to  see  a  pure,  sweet 
image  of  herself  reflected  there,  and  to  feel  that  she  shared  in  the 
knightly  tenderness  for  the  ideal  woman  there  enshrined.  But 
yet  deeper  and  holier  still  was  kept  the  memory  of  his  own  errors 
and  frailties ;  and  the  penitent  Magdalen  and  the  contrite  man 
met,  in  that  true  soul,  a  fellow-sinner  who  knew  how  to  forgive,  as 
he  had  known  what  it  is  to  be  forgiven. 

It  was  this  humanity  of  his  nature,  these  pure,  strong,  earthly 
sympathies,  this  veil  of  the  flesh  in  which  his  piety  was  clothed, 
which  added  so  much  to  the  power  of  his  life  and  doctrine.  His 
was,  indeed,  a  truly  and  deeply  spiritual  life,  in  the  religious  sense 
of  that  word.  But  there  was,  besides  this,  a  human  soulfulness,  a 
sensitive  sympathy  with  all  that  was  charming  in  Nature,  beautiful 
in  Art,  inspiring  in  life,  or  useful  to  his  country,  which  won  for  him 
the  regard  and  affection  of  men,  who  were  afterwards  subdued  by 
the  teachings  of  his  faith  and  the  example  of  his  piety.  Thus  it 
often  happened  that  the  generous  host  or  the  genial  friend  who 
received  him  as  the  gentleman,  the  scholar,  the  lover  of  art,  the 
student  of  science,  or  the  unselfish  patriot,  learned  to  know  that 
there  was  something  deeper  and  holier  still ;  and  it  softly  stole 
upon  his  consciousness  that,  in  entertaining  this  gifted  stranger, 
he  had  "  entertained  an  angel  unawares."  Nor  was  the  grateful 
influence  of  his  teaching  less  felt  because  it  was  thus  associated 
with  the  human  sympathies  of  common  interests,  the  winning 
courtesy  of  a  gentleman,  the  charms  of  a  graceful  nature,  and  the 
strength  of  a  vigorous  and  comprehensive  intellect. 

We  have  thus  endeavored  to  present  to  our  readers  a  true  likeness 
of  this  faithful  son  of  the  Church,  this  noble  child  of  her  nurture, 
this  chosen  ruler  over  an  important  portion  of  her  heritage,  this 
Father  in  God  to  a  large  number  of  her  people.  It  has  been  our 
wish  to  describe  him  just  as  he  was,  —  as  he  lived,  and  acted,  and 
spoke,  and  worked.  Bishop  Elliott  held  opinions  which  are  not 
held  by  some  who  will  read  this  volume  ;  he  believed  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  do  things  which  we  know  they  have  not  approved.  We 
have  not  felt  at  liberty  to  disguise  these  opinions,  or  to  pass  over 
these  acts,  or  even  to  soften  the  sharpness  of  their  antagonism. 
We  have  endeavored  to  speak  of  them  in  words  and  in  a  manner 
that  might  not  offend  the  convictions  or  the  feelings  of  others. 


Memoir. 


xix 


We  have  desired  to  be  as  respectful  to  their  opposing  opinions,  as 
we  earnestly  crave  them  to  be  respectful  to  his.  But  we  have 
deemed  it  our  duty  to  present  him,  as  he  himself  would  have 
wished  to  stand  before  them,  —  modestly,  respectfully,  but  frankly 
and  manfully,  himself.  In  these  things  he  must  be  judged  as  he 
stands.  In  how  many  other  things  can  the  whole  country  and 
Church  unite  to  praise  and  honor  him ! 

After  a  laborious  life  freely  spent  in  the  service  of  God,  the 
Church,  and  the  country,  Bishop  Elliott,  being  in  his  sixty-first 
year,  died  suddenly  in  the  city  of  Savannah,  Georgia,  on  the 
evening  of  the  21st  of  December,  1866.  He  had  been  absent 
from  home  in  the  discharge  of  his  Episcopal  duties,  and  had  just 
returned  to  the  welcome  of  those  who  loved  him  so  dearly  and 
reverently ;  he  had  just  taken  his  last  meal  with  those  who  were 
the  objects  of  his  tender  solicitude :  when,  suddenly,  he  fell  lifeless, 
and  was  at  rest.  To  close  and  dear  friends,  he  had  often  dwelt 
upon  the  blessedness  of  a  sudden  death  to  the  faithful  Christian. 
This  blessing  was  granted  him.  Amidst  the  cares  and  labors  of 
his  holy  office,  amidst  the  yearnings  of  his  heart  for  his  country, 
amidst  the  peace  and  beauty  of  his  domestic  happiness,  "in  a 
moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,"  his  earthly  life  was  ended, 
and  his  soul  was  with  God. 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  thrice,  during  one  year,  has  the 
name  of  Stephen  Elliott  been  borne  in  mourning  through  two 
States,  and  each  time  with  words  of  honor,  regard,  and  profound- 
est  respect.  On  the  first  occasion,  the  young  hero  and  soldier 
and  humble  Christian  "was  laid  gently  and  reverently  upon  the 
bosom  of  the  State  he  loved,"  with  the  eloquent  words  of  genius 
for  his  requiem.  But  a  few  days  later,  and  the  pious  and  scholarly 
father  of  the  noble  youth,  the  Rev.  Stephen  Elliott,  —  who  had 
trained  him  for  his  high  duties,  and  who  could  truly  and  proudly 
say  with  Lord  Ormond,  "  I  would  not  give  my  dead  son  for  any  liv- 
ing son  in  Christendom,"  —  was  laid  by  his  side.  And  then,  alas  ! 
the  shining  name  of  Georgia's  great  Bishop  was  added  to  the 
fatal  list.  This  last  startling  message  carried  gloom  and  sorrow 
throughout  the  limits  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  and  to  many 
churches,  hearts,  and  homes,  in  every  portion  of  the  country.  Men 
seeking  for  sympathy  met  and  repeated  the  mournful  intelligence, 
and  the  mute  but  eloquent  gesture  of  grief  gave  token  of  their 
love  and  reverence  for  a  great  and  good  man  thus  snatched  away, 
and  of  their  bitter  sense  of  irreparable  loss  and  bereavement. 

It  was  keenly  felt  that  a  brilliant  light  and  representative  of 


XX 


Memoir. 


Southern  life,  society,  tradition  and  history  was  suddenly  gone ; 
and  that  from  Churches,  and  States,  and  disciples,  and  friends,  a 
prop  upon  which  they  had  used  to  lean,  had  silently  sunk  away : 
and  that  they  must  henceforth  learn  to  stand  in  their  own 
strength,  or  look  elsewhere  for  support.  And  in  the  first  blind- 
ness of  their  grief  they  knew  not  where  to  look.  The  Church 
which  he  governed  will  mourn  the  loss  of  the  calm,  clear,  just  and 
graceful  wisdom  which  guided  her,  and  the  great  heart  which 
cheered  her.  The  society  in  which  he  moved  will  lament  that  its 
pride  and  ornament  is  veiled.  Many  a  younger  man,  struggling 
in  the  battle  of  life,  will  miss  his  voice  from  among  the  good  and 
wise,  whose  approbation  is  reward,  whose  praise  is  wealth.  And 
hundreds  have  lost  forever  their  friend,  example,  teacher,  guide  and 
comforter  —  a  comforter  whose  rich,  sweet,  happy  voice  of  itself 
brought  cheer  and  hope  amidst  sorrow  and  despondency. 

His  death  was  very  sudden.  And  yet,  to  those  who  knew  and 
considered  the  man,  it  was  what  might  have  been  looked  for.  We 
have  said  that  his  life  was  the  rich  growth  of  the  cherished  mem- 
ories of  the  past.  And  the  tempest  of  desolation  and  ruin  which 
had  scourged  the  face  of  his  loved  Southern  land  had  torn  also 
through  the  branches  of  this  stately  tree,  and  strained  it  to  its 
foundations.  The  scathing  bolts  of  war  had  fallen  deep  amidst  its 
roots.  Many  ties  of  kindred  had  been  broken.  Many  proud  and 
generous  associations  with  the  past  had  been  destroyed.  The 
homes  of  many  of  his  blood  and  lineage  had  been  made  desolate  ; 
the  accustomed  fires  of  their  hearths  had  gone  out  in  bitter  ashes ; 
and  their  sons  and  daughters  were  wandering  among  strangers. 
His  hopes  of  constitutional  liberty  had  been  defeated.  His  aspira- 
tions for  his  country  had  been  blighted.  Thus,  all  unseen,  the 
great  roots  of  his  mortal  life  were  snapped,  and  the  rich  sources  of 
his  earthly  strength  were  dried  up.  And  although,  like  a  beauti- 
ful tree  with  its  roots  all  broken  and  bruised,  he  still,  for  a  time, 
stood  poised  in  the  perfect  balance  of  his  character  and  the  sym- 
metrical proportions  of  his  nature :  yet  the  great  props  of  his  life 
had  been  taken  away.  And  so  it  happened  that,  stirred  by  some 
cold,  mysterious  breath  of  the  night,  with  the  growth  and  foliage 
of  his  life  all  heavy  with  the  dew  of  heavenly  cares,  he  tottered 
and  fell  —  fell  with  perhaps  one  last,  loving  pang,  for  the  cruel 
blow  with  which  his  sudden  and  resounding  fall  was  to  crash  upon 
the  trembling  hearts  of  Churches  and  States  and  friends  and  family. 

And  thus  he  lay  in  the  majesty  of  death ;  and  little  children 
and  pure  women,  young  men  and  old,  the  meek  and  the  gentle,  the 


Memoir. 


xxi 


proud  and  the  lowly,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  great  and  the  wise, 
Bishops,  priests,  patriots,  soldiers,  scholars  and  statesmen,  came  to 
mourn  around  the  bier  of  Georgia's  great  Bishop. 

Fortuna  non  mutat  genus,  was  the  rallying  cry  of  the  ancient 
worthies.  From  father  to  son,  is  the  law  of  Nature.  From  gen- 
eration to  generation,  is  the  promise  and  commandment  of  God. 
Amidst  the  private  ruin,  social  change,  and  political  disaster  which 
now  surround  them,  let  those  that  bear  the  unsullied  name  of  the 
soldier  of  Christ  who  thus  in  full  armor  has  fallen  on  sleep,  and 
names  like  his,  remember,  —  let  every  true  Southern  heart  remem- 
ber, —  Fortuna  non  mutat  genus.  If  their  fathers,  in  their  day,  have 
trusted  in  God,  submitted  to  His  will,  and  conquered  difficulties ; 
they,  in  the  same  faith  and  with  like  patience,  can  retrieve  disaster, 
bring  good  out  of  evil,  and  triumph  over  misfortune. 

The  time  is  surely  coming  when  it  will  task  all  the  virtue,  wis- 
dom, strength  and  courage  of  the  whole  country,  to  save  the  an- 
cient liberties  of  the  people,  and  to  purge  the  administration  of 
the  Governments  from  legislative  corruption  and  official  rapacity. 
The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  true  children  of  God's 
Church,  and  the  whole  brotherhood  of  Christian  men,  will  be  com- 
pelled to  stand  together  for  the  defence  of  their  faith,  against  the 
assaults  of  an  infidel  philosophy  and  a  material  humanitarianism 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  narrow  despotism  of  priestly  power  on 
the  other.  Let  the  country  remember  that  the  people  of  the 
South  have  always  been  ardently  attached  to  the  great  principles 
of  constitutional  liberty,  social  order  and  conservative  law,  and 
that  they  can  proudly  and  thankfully  call  the  country  to  witness, 
that  their  public  men  have  ever  been  uncorrupted  and  incorrupti- 
ble in  the  discharge  of  their  public  duties.  Let  the  Church  re- 
member that  her  children  of  the  South  have  been  simple  and 
reverent  in  their  Creed,  honest  in  their  piety,  and  the  staunch  de- 
fenders of  the  great  doctrines  of  Christ's  Divinity,  Resurrection, 
and  Atonement ;  and  that,  like  this  beloved  Bishop,  "  they  have 
endeavored  to  pursue  the  quiet  conservative  paths  trodden  by  the 
wisest  and  most  honored  Fathers  of  the  American  Church."  Ere 
the  time  of  trial  come,  let  the  country  and  the  Church  remember 
Fortuna  non  mutat  genus. 

T.  M.  H. 


Of  the  great  mass  of  manuscript  sermons  left  by  the  lamented 
Bishop  Elliott,  nothing  was  prepared  by  him  for  the  press  ;  nor 
was  there  the  slightest  indication  as  to  what  selection  from  them 
he  would  himself  have  preferred.  Yet  it  was  rightly  judged  by 
all  that  the  reputation  of  so  great  a  Preacher  should  not  be  left 
to  go  down  to  futurity  only  upon  the  unsubstantial  basis  of  oral 
tradition. 

Of  the  few  sermons  printed  during  his  life  some  were  of  too 
transient  an  interest  to  justify  their  being  inserted  here  :  but  others 
are  given,  and  among  them  are  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth,  on  Toe 
Busy  Man's  and  TJie  Busy  Woman's  Religious  Difficulties,  which 
were  printed  by  request  in  New  Orleans  in  the  year  1859.  The 
Twenty- fifth,  on  Our  National  Sin  o  f  Proud  Boasting,  is  the  second 
of  two  sermons  preached,  and  printed  by  request,  in  1843,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  deaths  of  eminent  personages  occasioned  by  the 
explosion  of  the  Peacemaker  ;  and  it  is  a  discourse  the  predictions 
of  which  will  be  read  with  singular  interest  in  the  light  of  the 
present  day.  The  extract  on  the  Apostolic  Succession  is  from 
a  printed  sermon  ;  and  the  Pastoral  Letter  sent  out  by  the  House 
of  Bishops  from  the  Southern  General  Council  in  1862,  and  the 
Address  at  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs,  were  both  printed.  All  the 
rest  of  the  volume  is  now  first  published  from  the  Bishop's  manu- 
scripts. 

In  regard  to  the  selection  here  made,  it  was  impossible  for  the 
Editor  to  read  through  the  great  mass  of  material  placed  at  his  dis- 
posal ;  and  the  cherished  recollections  of  two  happy  years  passed 
under  the  Bishop's  roof,  from  1842  to  1844,  were  a  very  insufficient 
guide  amid  the  wealth  of  more  than  twenty  years'  subsequent  work 
in  the  very  prime  of  his  splendid  powers.  The  larger  part  of 
these  Sermons,  therefore,  are  such  as  were  chosen  by  the  various 
members  of  his  family,  or  by  other  relatives  and  friends,  or  by  his 


xxiv 


Editors  Preface. 


Clergy,  and  members  of  the  Parishes  in  Savannah,  as  the  dis- 
courses which  had  printed  themselves  the  most  deeply  in  their 
hearts  at  the  time  of  their  delivery.  As  to  the  rest,  the  choice  has 
been  made  partly  with  a  view  to  give  greater  fullness  to  the  imper- 
fect outline  of  the  Church  Year,  but  especially  to  include  as  many 
as  possible  of  the  sermons  written  during  the  last  and  ripest  years 
of  the  Bishop's  life. 

In  regard  to  the  arrangement,  the  sermons  on  general  subjects  are 
placed  first.  Then,  beginning  with  the  Eighteenth,  follow  a  num- 
ber of  discourses  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  Church  Year,  though 
its  circle  is  by  no  means  completed ;  and  of  these,  many  were 
written  during  the  last  year  of  his  life,  including  those  for  Christ- 
mas-Day, for  the  Epiphany,  for  the  first  two  Sundays  in  Lent,  for 
Good-Friday,  and  Easter-Day,  with  others.  From  the  Forty-third 
to  the  Fiftieth  inclusive  have  been  grouped  several  which  are 
peculiarly  interesting  fromtheir  connection  with  the  closing  scenes 
of  his  own  Ministry.  \jPhe  Forty-third  is  the  first  that  was  preached 
by  him  on  his  return  to  Savannah  after  the  War.^The  Forty- 
fourth,  though  written  previously,  is  an  admirable  expression  of  his 
own  spirit,  and  of  the  spirit  which  he  labored  to  promote  in  others, 
under  the  calamities  of  the  War.  The  Forty-fifth  and  Forty-sixth 
are,  unitedly,  his  "  last  will  and  testament  "  touching  the  great 
question  of  the  political  troubles  of  the  country,  in  which  he  had 
been  so  deeply  interested.  The  State  of  Georgia  had  appointed 
a  fast-day  for  the  sufferings  and  deprivations  of  the  people  of  the 
State ;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  appointed  a 
Thanksgiving  on  the  same  day  of  the  week  following,  in  recogni- 
tion of  National  blessings.  Christ  Church  was  open  for  Divine 
Service  on  both  days  ;  and  these  are  the  two  sermons  that  were 
preached  by  the  Bishop  on  those  two  occasions.  The  Forty-seventh 
is  the  last  sermon  preached  by  him  in  Savannah,  on  Sunday  night, 
December  9th.  The  Forty-eighth  in  the  morning,  and  the  Forty- 
ninth  at  night,  were  preached  by  him  on  the  last  Sunday  of  his 
life,  December  16th,  in  Augusta.  The  Fiftieth  was  the  last  ever 
preached  by  him,  being  delivered  at  Montpelier  —  the  scene  of  his 
heaviest  sacrifices  in  the  cause  of  Church  Education  —  on  Thurs- 
day, the  20th  of  December,  only  the  day  before  his  departure.  And 
what  more  beautiful  choice  of  subjects  could  be  found  to  close  the 
career  of  a  faithful  Preacher  ?  The  first  of  the  four  —  that  in  Sa- 
vannah —  gives  the  triumphant  key-note  :  Look  up,  and  lift  up  your 
heads ;  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh.  Then,  almost  as  with  a 
conscious  apprehension  of  the  coming  glory :  In  Thy  Light  shall 


Editor  s  Preface. 


xxv 


we  see  light.  Along  with  this  light  comes  the  great  Cloud  of  Wit- 
nesses —  the 

Bright  array, 

Round  the  altar  night  and  day ;  — 

and  the  fall  recognition  of  Christ  as  not  only  the  Author  but  also 
the  Finisher  of  our  faith.  Last  of  all  is  the  solemn  repetition  of 
the  Master's  warning  :  Watch  ye  therefore :  for  ye  know  not  when  the 
Master  o  f  the  house  co?neth,  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  the  cock-crow- 
ing, or  in  the  morning.  And  these  were  the  closing  words  :  -  In- 
stead of  sleeping  because  the  world  is  troubled  and  agitated,  rather 
stand  upon  your  watch-tower,  and  await  in  faith  and  patience  the 
Coming  of  your  Master."  Almost  while  the  voice  of  the  Preacher 
was  yet  sounding,  the  Master  of  the  house  came,  "  at  even."  and 
found  the  Watchman  not  "  sleeping." 

The  extract  on  the  Apostolic  Succession  is  valuable  for  its  clear 
doctrinal  teachings,  though  a  large  part  of  the  printed  sermon 
from  which  it  is  taken  is  of  less  general  interest.  The  Pastoral 
Letter  of  1862  is  inserted,  not  only  because  it  is  of  so  great  beauty*; 
not  only  because  it  breathes  such  a  heavenly  spirit  in  sending 
forth,  from  the  midst  of  the  alarums  of  war,  its  "  greetings  of  love 
to  the  Churches  of  God  all  the  world  over  ;  "  not  only  because  it 
declares  in  the  most  plain  and  pointed  terms,  what  was  taught  and 
held  by  Churchmen  as  their  religious  duty  towards  the  colored 
people  even  before  emancipation  :  but  rather  because  it  was  wholly 
the  work  of  Bishop  Elliott's  pen.  written  by  him  at  one  heat  in 
the  course  of  an  evening,  and  adopted  the  next  morning  by  his 
Brother  Bishops  with  hardly  the  alteration  of  a  single  word.  The 
Address  delivered  at  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs  is  placed  last,  be- 
cause so  large  a  part  of  it  is  applicable,  with  wonderful  exactness, 
to  Bishop  Elliott  himself,  although  his  character  was  marked  by 
elements  of  commanding  brilliance  and  intellectual  power  to 
which  the  pure  and  gentle  and  lovely  Bishop  of  Alabama  could 
lay  no  claim.  The  closing  paragraph  of  that  Address  especially  — 
the  utterance  of  a  longing  and  yearning  for  rest  —  expresses  the 
dominant  feeling  of  his  own  heart,  no  less  than  that  of  the  saintly 
Man  of  God  over  whose  sleeping  body  they  were  spoken. 

Bishop  Elliott  was  a  remarkably  rapid  and  fluent  writer.  The 
manuscript  leaves  of  sermon  after  sermon  of  his  may  be  turned 
over  without  detecting  the  slightest  sign  of  erasure  or  interlinea- 
tion, and.  with  an  evenness  of  hand  as  perfect  as  if  written  all  at 
one  sitting  and  with  one  penful  of  ink.    Certain  cardinal  words. 


xxvi 


Editors  Preface. 


such  as  Heart,  Life,  Love,  and  Heaven,  are  invariably  spelt  by  him 
with  a  capital  letter,  as  if  to  give  them  that  prominence  to  the  eye 
which  they  hold  in  the  mind.  The  date  of  composition  or  delivery 
was  not  always  placed  by  him  upon  his  manuscript;  but  where  given 
it  has  been  printed  at  the  end  of  the  sermon,  and  will  be  an  addi- 
tional element  of  interest  to  the  reader.  It  was  not  often  that  the 
Bishop  repeated  his  sermons :  yet  one  of  those  written  in  the  last 
year  of  his  life  —  in  this  volume  numbered  the  Sixteenth,  on 
"  MphrairrCs  Altars  to  Sin  "  —  was  preached  no  less  than  seven 
times  in  different  places  during  the  course  of  a  few  months :  a 
striking  proof  of  the  degree  to  which  the  Bishop  believed  the 
teachings  of  that  sermon  to  be  needed  by  the  people. 

It  is  with  inexpressible  sadness  that  we  do  our  humble  part  in 
laying  before  the  Church  these  mute  utterances  of  a  voice  that 
shall  be  heard  among  us  on  earth  no  more  :  and  with  many  a  mis- 
giving lest  the  selection  may  not  be  altogether  such  as  shall  do 
him  the  most  honor  or  the  Church  the  most  enduring  service.  But 
there  is  one  consolation  ;  and  that  isf  that  this  volume  contains 
such  singular  proofs  of  his  earnestness  and  eloquence  ;  such  melt- 
ing tenderness  and  terrible  grandeur  of  spiritual  power ;  such  a 
mastery  of  the  Word  of  God,  which  pierces  "  even  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  aud  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a 
discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart ; "  such  vivid  and 
graphic  presentations  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  the  claims  of 
His  Church  :  that  a  loving  and  a  faithful  People  "  will  not  willingly 
let  it  die." 

J.  H.  H.,  Jr. 

New  York,  July,  1867. 


Contents 


'FIRST  SERMON. 

And  I  said,  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove  I  for  then  would  I  fly 
away,  and  be  at  rest.  — Psalm  lv.  6  Pp.  i-io. 

SECOND  SERMON. 

And  I  said,  TJiis  is  mine  infirmity  :  but  I  will  remember  the 
years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High,  —  Psalm  lxxvii  10. 

Pp.  11-22. 

THIRD  SERMON. 

Pilate  answered,  What  I  haze  written  I  hai'e  written.  —  S.  John- 

XIX.  22  Pp.  23-33. 

FOURTH  SERMON. 

And  David  longed,  and  said,  Oh  that  one  would  give  me  drink 
of  the  water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate!  — 
2  Samuel  xxiii  15.,  Pp.  34-43. 

FIFTH  SERMON. 

For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ :  for  it  is  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth  ;  to  the  jew  first, 
and  also  to  the  Greek.  —  Romans  i.  16    ....    Pp.  44-54. 


-t    SIXTH  SERMON. 

He  calleth  to  me  out  of  Seir,  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?  Watch- 
man, what  of  the  night  1  The  watchman  said,  The  morning 
cometh,  and  also  the  night :  if  ye  will  inquire,  inquire  ye:  return, 
come.  —  Isaiah  xxi.  11,  12  Pp.  55-64. 


xxviii 


Contents. 


SEVENTH  SERMON. 

The  woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with, 
and  the  well  is  deep :  from  whence  then  hast  thou  that  living 
water  1  —  S.  John  iv.  ii  Pp.  65-74. 

EIGHTH  SERMON. 

And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a 
kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  destroyed :  and  the  kingdom  shall 
not  be  left  to  other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume 
all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever.  —  Daniel  ii.  44. 

Pp.  75-84- 

NINTH  SERMON. 

But  go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be :  for  thou  shall  rest,  and  stand 
in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days.  —  Daniel  xii.  13  .  .  Pp.  85-95. 

TENTH  SERMON. 

For  who  knoweth  what  is  good  for  a  man  in  this  life,  all  the  days 
of  his  vain  life  which  he  spendeth  as  a  shadow  1  —  Ecclesiastes 
vi.  12  Pp.  96-106. 

ELEVENTH  SERMON. 

And  the  apostles  said  unto  the  Lord,  Increase  our  faith.  —  S. 
Luke  xvii.  5  Pp.  107-116. 

TWELFTH  SERMON. 

THE  BUSY  MAN'S  RELIGIOUS  DIFFICULTIES. 

And  after  these  things  he  went  forth,  and  saw  a  publican,  named 
Levi,  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom  :  and  he  said  unto  him,  Fol- 
low me.  And  he  left  all,  rose  up,  and  followed  him.  —  S.  Luke 
v.  27,  28  Pp.  117-127. 

THIRTEENTH  SERMON. 

THE  BUSY  WOMAN'S  RELIGIOUS  DIFFICULTIES. 

But  Martha  was  cumbered  about  much  serving,  and  came  to  him, 
and  said,  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to 
serve  alo?te?  bid  her  therefore  that  she  help  me.  And  Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  her,  Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  careful 


Contents.  xxix 


and  troubled  about  many  thi?igs :  but  one  thing  is  needful:  and 
Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken  away 
from  her.  —  S.  Luke  x.  40-42  Pp.  128-138. 

FOURTEENTH  SERMON. 

How  long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  lodge  within  thee?  —  Jeremiah 
iv.  14  Pp.  T-W-1^- 

FIFTEENTH  SERMON. 

PREPARATION  FOR  THE  HOLY  COMMUNION. 

And  God  requireth  that  which  is  past.  —  Ecclesiastes  iii.  15. 

Pp.  153-164. 

SIXTEENTH  SERMON. 

Because  Ephraim  hath  made  many  altars  to  sin,  altars  shall  be 
unto  him  to  sin.  —  Hosea  viii.  11  Pp.  165-176. 

SEVENTEENTH  SERMON. 

And  take  heed  to  yourselves,  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  over- 
charged with  surfeiting,  and  drunkenness,  and  cares  of  this  life, 
and  so  that  day  come  upon  you  unawares.  For  as  a  s?iare  shall 
it  come  on  all  them  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  — 
S.  Luke  xxi.  34,  35  Pp.  177-189. 

EIGHTEENTH  SERMON. 

SECOND  SUNDAY  IN  ADVENT. 

Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth  :  thy  word  is  truth.  —  S.  John 
v      xvii.  17  Pp.  190-200. 

NINETEENTH  SERMON. 

FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  ADVENT. 

In  those  days  came  John  the  Baptist,  preaching  in  the  wilderness 
of  Judea,  and  saying,  Repent  ye :  for  the  ki?igdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand.  For  this  is  he  that  was  spoken  of  by  the  prophet 
Esaias,  saying,  The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Frepare 
ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight.  —  S.  Mat- 
thew iii.  1-3  Pp.  201-2 1 1. 


XXX 


Contents. 


TWENTIETH  SERMON. 

CHRISTMAS— DAY. 

As  sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing.  —  2  Corinthians  vi.  10. 

Pp.  212-222. 

TWENTY-FIRST  SERMON. 

THE  EPIPHANY. 

And  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world, 
for  a  witness  unto  all  nations :  and  then  shall  the  end  come.  — 
S.  Matthew  xxiv.  14  .........    .  Pp.  223-233. 

TWENTY-SECOND  SERMON. 

SEXAGESIMA  SUNDAY. 

And  these  are  they  which  are  sown  among  thorns  ;  such  as  hear  the 
word,  and  the  cares  of  this  world,  and  the  deceitfulness  of  riches, 
and  the  lusts  of  other  things  entering  in,  choke  the  word,  and  it 
becometh  unfruitful.  —  S.  Mark  iv.  18,  19  .    .    .  Pp.  234-244. 

TWENTY-THIRD  SERMON. 

FIRST  SUNDAY  IN  LENT. 

O  house  of  yacob,  come  ye,  and  let  us  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Lord. 
—  Isaiah  ii.  5  Pp.  245-255. 

TWENTY-FOURTH  SERMON. 

SECOND  SUNDAY  IN  LENT. 

To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto  me  ?  saith 
the  Lord.  —  Isaiah  i.  ii   Pp.  256-265. 

TWENTY-FIFTH  SERMON. 

THIRD  SUNDAY  IN  LENT. 


Talk  no  more  so  exceeding  proudly  ;  let  not  arrogancy  come  out  of 
your  mouth  :  for  the  Lord  is  a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by  him 
actions  are  weighed.  —  1  Samuel  ii.  3    .    .    .    .Pp.  266-277. 


Contents.  xxxi 
TWENTY-SIXTH  SERMON. 

PALM  SUNDAY. 

And  the  multitudes  that  went  before,  and  that  followed,  cried,  saying, 
Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David :  Blessed  is  he  that  co?neth  in  t/ie 
name  of  the  Lord;  Hosanna  in  the  highest.  —  S.  Matthew 
xxi.  9  Pp.  278-289. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH  SERMON. 

GOOD  FRIDAY. 

TJien  answered  all  the  people,  and  said,  His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on 
our  children.  —  S.  Matthew  xxvii.  25  ...    .  Pp.  290-303. 

TWENTY-EIGHTH  SERMON. 

GOOD  FRIDAY. 

To  this  end  iv as  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world, 
that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of 
the  truth  heareth  my  voice.  —  S.  John  xviii.  37  .    Pp.  304-315. 

TWENTY-NINTH  SERMON. 

EASTER-DAY. 

But  Mary  stood  without  at  the  sepulchre  weeping ;  and  as  she  wept 
she  stooped  down  and  looked  into  the  sepulchre,  and  seeth  two  angels 
in  white,  sitting,  the  one  at  the  head,  and  the  other  at  the  feet, 
where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain.  And  they  say  unto  her, 
Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?  She  saith  unto  them,  Because  they 
have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  L  know  not  where  they  have  laid 
him.  And  when  she  had  thus  said,  she  turned  herself  back,  and 
saw  Jesus  standing,  and  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus.  —  S. 
John  xx.  11-14  Pp.  516-2,26. 

THIRTIETH  SERMON. 

WHITSUN-DAY. 

And  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully  come,  they  were  all  with 
one  accord  in  one  place.  And  suddenly  there  came  a  sound  from 
heaven  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it  filed  all  the  house 
where  they  were  sitting.  And  there  appeared  unto  them  cloven 
tongues  like  as  of  fire,  and  it  sat  upon  each  of  them.    And  they 


xxxii  Contents. 

were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with 
other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance.  —  Acts  ii.  1-4. 

Pp-  327-337. 

THIRTY-FIRST  SERMON. 

WHITSUN-DAY. 

Quench  not  the  Spirit.  —  1  Thessalonians  v.  19  .    Pp.  338-349. 
THIRTY-SECOND  SERMON. 

TRINITY  SUNDAY  :  FIRST  PART. 

And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness,  — 
Genesis  i.  26. 

Compared  with 

And  jfesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up  straightway  out  of  the 
water  :  and,  lo,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw  the 
Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  him  :  and 
lo  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased.  —  S.  Matthew  iii.  16,  17  .    .  Pp.  350-361. 

THIRTY-THIRD  SERMON. 

TRINITY  SUNDAY  :  SECOND  PART. 

[The  same  texts.]  Pp.  362-373. 

THIRTY-FOURTH  SERMON. 

FIRST  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 

They  are  of  the  world :  therefore  speak  they  of  the  world,  and  the 
world  heareth  the?n.  We  are  of  God.  He  that  knoweth  God, 
heareth  us  ;  he  that  is  not  of  God,  heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know 
we  the  spirit  of  truth,  and  the  spirit  of  error.  —  1  S.  John 
iv.  5,  6  Pp.  374-384- 

THIRTY-FIFTH  SERMON. 

SIXTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 

These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having 
seen  them  afar  off,  and  were  persuaded  of  them,  and  embraced 
them,  and  confessed  that  they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the 
earth.  For  they  that  say  such  things  declare  plaifily  that  they 
seek  a  country.  —  Hebrews  xi.  13,  14  Pp.  385-396. 


Contents, 


xxxiii 


THIRTY-SIXTH  SERMON. 

EIGHTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 

JVbt  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the 
hingdo?n  of  heaven  ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.  Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord, 
have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ?  and  in  thy  name  have 
cast  out  devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ? 
And  then  will  L  profess  unto  them,  L  never  knew  you  :  depart 
from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity.  —  S.  Matthew  vii.  21—23. 

pP-  397-408. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH  SERMON. 

SEVENTEENTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 

TJien  said  one  unto  him,  Lord,  are  there  few  that  be  saved  1  And 
he  said  unto  them,  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate :  for  many, 
L  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able.  — 
S.  Luke  xiii.  23,  24  Pp.  409-419. 

THIRTY-EIGHTH  SERMON. 

EIGHTEENTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 

I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and  will  say  unto  him,  Father,  I 
have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more 
worthy  to  be  called  thy  son  :  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  serv- 
ants. —  S.  Luke  xv.  18,  19  Pp.  420-431. 

THIRTY-NINTH  SERMON. 

TWENTY-SIXTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 

The  heart  knoweth  his  own  bitterness ;  and  a  stranger  doth  not 
intermeddle  with  his  joy.  —  Proverbs  xiv.  10  .    .  Pp.  432-441. 

FORTIETH  SERMON. 

Have  I  been  a  wilderness  unto  Israel  ?  a  land  of  darkness  1  —  Jer- 
emiah ii.  31  Pp.  442-453. 

EORTY-FIRST  SERMON. 

AT  THE  HOLY  COMMUNION. 

God  is  love  ;  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God,  and  God 

in  him.  —  1  S.  John  iv.  16  Pp.  454-464. 

c 


xxxiv 


Contents. 


FORTY-SECOND  SERMON. 

AT  THE  ORDINATION  OF  A  DEACON. 

See  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern  showed  to  thee 
in  the  mount.  —  Hebrews  viii.  5  Pp.  465-476. 

FORTY-THIRD  SERMON. 

Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  —  Psalm  xlvi.  10. 

Pp.  477-486. 

FORTY-FOURTH  SERMON. 
In  your  patience  possess  ye  your  souls.  —  S.  Luke  xxi.  19. 

Pp.  487-495- 

FORTY-FIFTH  SERMON. 

ON  THE  STATE  FAST-DAY. 

For  this  commandment  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  it  is  not 
hidden  from  thee,  neither  is  it  far  off.  It  is  not  in  heaven,  that 
thou  shouldest  say,  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to  heaven,  and  brmg 
it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  it,  and  do  it  ?  Neither  is  it  beyond 
the  sea,  that  thou  shouldest  say,  Who  shall  go  over  the  sea  for  us, 
and  bring  it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  it,  and  do  it  ?  But  the 
word  is  very  nigh  unto  thee,  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart,  that 
thou  mayest  do  it.  —  Deuteronomy  xxx.  11-14.    Pp.  496-507. 

FORTY-SIXTH  SERMON. 

ON  THE  NATIONAL  THANKSGIVING-DAY. 

Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in 
the  vines  ;  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall 
yield  no  meat;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there 
shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls :  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  / 
will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.  —  Habakkuk  iii.  17,  18. 

Pp.  508-518. 

FORTY-SEVENTH  SERMON. 


And  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up,  and  lift 
up  your  heads ;  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh.  —  S.  Luke 
xxi.  28  Pp.  519-527. 


Contents. 


XXXV 


FORTY-EIGHTH  SERMON. 
In  thy  light  shall  we  see  light.  —  Psalm  xxxvi.  9  .    .  Pp.  528-540. 

FORTY-NINTH  SERMON. 

Wherefore  seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth 
so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is 
set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus  the  author  a?id  finisher  of  our 
faith.  —  Hebrews  xii.  1,  2  Pp,  541-553. 

^  FIFTIETH  SERMON. 

For  the  Son  of  Man  is  as  a  man  taking  a  far  journey,  who  left  his 
house,  and  gave  authority  to  his  servants,  and  to  every  man  his 
work,  and  commanded  the  porter  to  watch.  Watch  ye  therefore :  for 
ye  know  not  when  the  master  of  the  house  co?neth,  at  even,  or  at 
midnight,  or  at  the  cock-crowing,  or  in  the  morning :  lest  coming 
suddenly  he  find  you  sleeping.  A?id  what  I  say  unto  you  I  say 
unto  all,  Watch.  —  S.  Mark  xiii.  34-37  ....  Pp.  554-562. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  SUCCESSION.  An  Extract  from  a  Ser- 
mon preached  at  the  Consecration  of  S.  John's  Church,  Savan- 
nah, in  1853  Pp.  563-566. 

THE  PASTORAL  LETTER  of  the  Bishops  in  the  general 

COUNCIL  Of  1862  Pp.  567-580. 

THE  ADDRESS  AT  THE  FUNERAL  OF  BISHOP  COBBS 
of  Alabama  Pp.  581-594. 


SERMONS. 


first  $2>ttmou. 


And  I  said.  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove !  for  then  would 
I  fly  away,  and  be  at  rest.  —  Psalm  Lv.  6. 

A  XD  whither,  0  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel,  could st  tliou 


fly,  even  if  thou  hadst  the  wiugs  of  the  dove,  aud  be 
at  rest  P  Dost  thou  uot  know  that  there  cau  be  uo  rest 
for  the  soul  of  man,  save  in  reunion  with  God ;  and  that  no 
flight,  however  distant,  however  far  away  from  the  haunts 
of  men,  can  give  thee  that  heavenly  boon  ?  Hast  thou  not 
told  us  thyself,  in  thine  own  beautiful  language,  "  I  shall 
be  satisfied,  0  God,  when  I  awake  with  thy  likeness?" 
And  canst  thou,  with  thy  rich  and  deep  experience,  expect 
the  wings  of  a  dove  to  carry  thee  away,  not  only  from 
trouble  and  trial,  but  from  sin  and  its  curse  ?  Alas,  no ! 
royal  Minstrel :  no  wings  can  carry  thee  away  from  thyself, 
—  can  separate  thee  from  thine  own  heart,  —  can  give  thee 
rest  in  a  world  like  this.  For  unrest  is  not  only  in  the 
things  outside  of  us,  which  harass  and  perplex  us,  but  has 
its  throne  in  our  own  hearts.  It  is  the  fruit  of  our  own 
natures,  begotten  of  the  corruption  in  which  we  are  born ; 
and  never  to  be  quieted  until  the  peace  of  God  shall  enter 
into  the  soul,  and  calm  its  struggling'  elements.  And  even 
then  shall  there  be,  so  long  as  life  shall  last,  a  law  of  the 
members  warring  against  the  law  of  the  mind,  and  ofttimes 


i 


2  Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove ! 

bringing  it  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  our 
members.  Hunt  for  rest  in  this  world,  with  wings !  It 
can  never  be  found  !  "  Traverse  in  imagination  the  extent 
of  creation,"  —  if  I  may  use  in  this  connection  words  applied 
by  another  to  a  very  different  subject,  —  "  wander  over  the 
most  beautiful  landscape,  pluck  the  most  fragrant  flower, 
select  the  most  costly  gem,  glide  upon  the  surface  of  the 
fairest  lake,  scale  the  highest  mountain,  soar  to  the  further- 
most star  :  still  the  question  rushes  back  upon  the  mind,  — 
e  How  shall  I  find  rest  among  these  glories  of  creation  P ' 
Poor,  anxious  searcher  for  peace,  all  Nature  unites  in  testi- 
fying :  6  It  is  not  in  me  !  it  is  not  in  me ! ' " 

We  cannot  flee  away,  my  beloved  hearers,  from  trouble, 
from  temptation,  from  sorrow,  from  sin.  They  must  be 
met,  and  overcome.  There  is  a  rest  promised  to  the  chil- 
dren of  God ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  found  in  this  world.  There 
is  a  home,  reserved  for  the  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus ;  but  it 
is  in  heaven.  God  has  prepared,  for  those  who  love  Him, 
mansions  in  which  beauty  will  never  fade,  in  which  sorrow 
will  never  dim  the  eye,  in  which  love  will  never  change : 
but  they  await  His  children  who  have  part  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ.  We  can  enjoy  slight  foretastes  of  their 
happiness  through  faith  and  hope ;  but  it  is  like  the  sun 
gleaming  through  a  troubled  sky,  and  only  flecking  the 
landscape  with  spots  of  sunshine.  All  is  bright  to-day,  — 
but  only  to-day :  to-morrow  brings  its  shadow  of  trial  or 
of  sorrow.  All  is  quiet  in  the  home  and  in  the  heart  this 
hour:  the  next,  there  rests  upon  both  some  dark  cloud, 
which  scatters  the  fond  dream  of  Peace  or  Faith.  For 
trouble  comes  alike  to  all.  "  There  is  one  event  to  the 
righteous,  and  to  the  wicked ;  to  the  good  and  to  the  clean, 
and  to  the  unclean ;  to  him  that  sacrificeth,  and  to  him  that 
sacrificeth  not."1    Such  distinctions  could  not  be  made 

1  Eccles.  ix.  2. 


Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove!  3 

here  without  miraculous  intervention,  because  the  right- 
eous and  the  unrighteous  are  so  mingled  in  domestic  and 
social  life,  are  so  hound  together  by  ties  of  association 
and  love  and  relationship,  that  the  punishment  of  the  one 
reacts  upon  the  other,  and  the  sorrow  of  the  one  is  the 
affliction  of  the  other.  True  justice  can  only  be  meted  out 
at  the  last.  Rest  —  that  may  deserve  the  name  —  can  only 
be  obtained  when  mortality  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  life. 

This  is  the  mistake  which  man  is  ever  making,  dream- 
ing that  he  can  find  rest  by  flying  away  from  the  present, 
Whenever  harassed  and  perplexed,  whenever  sad  and  sorrow- 
ful, his  feeling  is  that  of  the  Psalmist :  "Oh  that  I  had 
wings  like  a  dove,  for  then  would  I  fly  away,  and  be  at  rest." 
He  forgets  that  the  trouble,  or  the  trial,  or  the  sorrow,  or 
the  temptation,  is  not  in  the  mere  accidental  circumstances : 
but  in  the  nature  of  things.  He  supposes  that  if  he  could 
change  this  condition  of  things,  or  get  rid  of  that  evil,  — 
that  if  he  could  fly  away  from  this  place,  or  hide  himself 
from  that  calamity,  —  he  should  be  at  rest.  But  he  ever 
finds  that  the  world  is  the  same  wherever  he  goes,  because  he 
himself  is  the  same.  Ccelum,  non  animum,  mutant  qui  trans 
mare  currant.  He  ever  finds  that  the  thing  which  has  been, 
is  that  which  shall  be  ;  and  that  which  is  done,  is  that 
which  shall  be  done :  because  Nature  is  ever  the  one  un- 
changeable impress  of  God.  And  when  he  has  shifted  all 
the  scenes  of  life,  and  played  his  part  now  in  poverty, 
now  in  riches,  now  in  obscurity,  now  in  power,  now  sur- 
rounded by  friends,  and  then  deserted  and  alone  :  he  learns, 
at  the  last,  that  rest  is  nowhere,  and  can  be  nowhere,  but 
in  himself ;  that  peace  is  not  the  product  of  earthly  combi- 
nations, but  is  the  gift  of  Christ,  —  the  quiet  sleeping  on 
the  pillow,  while  the  winds  are  howling,  and  the  waves  roll- 
ing, and  destruction  hovering  around.  But  what  a  long 
chase  man  has,  ere  he  finds  this  out  ;  how  he  toils  and 


4         Ok  that  I  kad  Wings  like  a  Dove  ! 

sweats  away  the  best  years  of  liis  life  in  looking  for  rest  in 
change ;  how  he  chafes  against  the  fetters  which  he  sup- 
poses are  keeping  him  away  from  happiness  and  peace!  Oh, 
that  I  might  be  rich  !  Oh,  that  I  might  reach  this  honor !  * 
Oh,  that  I  might  win  this  object !  Oh,  that  this  crook  in 
my  lot  might  only  be  taken  away  ;  that  this  skeleton  might 
be  removed  from  my  house  !  These  are  the  desires  of  men, 
even  when  they  have  been  so  often  disappointed  in  change  ; 
even  after  they  have  found  no  rest  in  any  thing  God  has 
done  for  them.  And  it  will  go  on  so  forever.  Nothing  can 
alter  it,  for  it  is  in  man  himself,  and  in  the  condition  which 
sin  has  forced  upon  the  world.  The  like  cry  arises  from 
rich  and  poor,  from  known  and  unknown,  from  peasant  and 
prince  :  "  Who  will  show  us  any  good  ?  " 

When  we  hear  this  wish  of  the  Psalmist  uttered  by  those 
who  are  not  Christians,  we  are  not  surprised  at  it;  for  many 
of  them  have  not  God  at  all  in  their  thoughts,  and  look 
upon  the  world  as  their  only  home.  If  they  cannot  find 
rest  here,  they  do  not  expect  to  find  it  at  all.  But  when  it 
is  uttered  by  the  Psalmist,  or  when  it  is  reechoed  from  the 
lips  of  Christians,  it  does  surprise  us,  for  they  ought  to 
understand  the  purposes  and  arrangements  of  God.  It  was 
wrung  from  David  under  the  pressure  of  troubles  and  ca- 
lamities ;  and  it  is  wrung  in  like  manner  from  Christians 
by  the  sore  trials  which  often  come  upon  theni  :  but  still  is 
it  the  cry  of  Nature,  and  not  of  Faith  !  For  whither  could 
the  wings  even  of  the  dove  bear  any  Christian,  safer  and 
better  than  the  place  where  God  has  put  him  ?  Whither 
could  he  go,  to  be  further  from  himself,  or  nearer  to  his 
God  ?  It  is  only  God  and  himself  that  can  give  him  any 
irremediable  trouble.  Nature  is  alike  everywhere,  —  cursed 
and  smitten.  Man  is  alike  everywhere,  —  unbelieving  and 
wicked.  What  use  in  flying  ?  Who  has  put  you  where 
you  are  ?   Who  has  surrounded  you  with  the  circumstances 


Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove  !  5 

which  are  your  trial  and  temptation  ?  Who  has  planted 
the  crook  in  your  lot,  —  the  skeleton  in  your  house  ?  Is  it 
not  God  ?  And  cannot  He  transfer  them  wherever  you  go, 
or  raise  up  worse  in  the  place  to  which  your  wings  have 
carried  you?  You  cannot  escape  from  God.  This  very 
Psalmist,  who  wished  that  he  had  the  wings  of  a  dove, 
has  told  thee  that  "  if  thou  take  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing, and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea ;  even  there 
shall  his  hand  lead  thee,  and  his  right  hand  shall  hold 
thee." 1  If  you  helieve  that  God  rules  and  superintends 
every  thing,  —  that  He  has  disposed  the  circumstances 
which  surround  and  harass  you,  —  why  fly  at  all  ?  They 
must  be  best  for  you,  because  He  has  promised  to  make 
every  thing  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  Him. 
It  is  quite  lawful  for  the  Christian  to  pray,  as  S.  Paul  did, 
that  the  thorn  in  his  flesh,  whatever  it  may  be,  may  be 
removed  :  but  not  to  fly  away,  as  Jonah  did,  from  the  cross 
which  has  been  laid  upon  him.  In  the  one  case  he  would 
most  assuredly  receive  the  answer :  "  My  grace  is  suf- 
ficient for  thee  :  "  2  in  the  other,  he  might  find  that  it  was 
"  as  if  a  man  did  flee  from  a  lion,  and  a  bear  met  him  ;  or 
went  into  the  house,  and  leaned  his  hand  on  the  wall,  and  a 
serpent  bit  him."3  In  the  anguish  of  some  severe  trial, 
the  words  of  the  Psalmist  might  come  as  the  strong  cry  or 
wail  of  Nature  from  the  lips  of  the  believer ;  but  it  would 
soon  be  followed  by  the  quiet  of  submission  :  "  Not  my  will, 
but  Thine,  0  God,  be  done  !  " 

A  Christian  ought  to  know  that  rest  cannot  be  found  in 
attempting  to  fly  from  God  ;  and  flying  from  His  allotment, 
is  flying  from  Him.  It  can  be  found  only  in  submission  to 
God  ;  in  doing  faithfully  that  which  He  has  given  us  to  do ; 
in  suffering  patiently  that  which  He  has  called  us  to  bear. 
The  Scripture  speaks  of  the  Christian  life  that  now  is,  as  of 

1  Psalm  cxxxix.  9,  10.  2  2  Cor.  xii.  9.  3  Amos  v.  19. 


6  Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove  / 

something  set  and  arranged  for  us  by  God,  just  as  Christ's 
life  was  set  and  arranged  for  Him.  And  if  we  would  re- 
ceive the  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God,  and 
would  catch  now  and  then  the  foretastes  of  it  which  come 
as  streaks  of  light  upon  our  hidden  path,  we  must  -— 

"  Trust  in  Him  who  trod  before 

The  desolate  paths  of  life ; 
Must  bear  in  meekness,  as  He  meekly  bore, 

Sorrow  and  toil  and  strife. 
Think  how  the  Son  of  God 
These  thorny  paths  hath  trod ; 
Think  how  He  longed  to  go, 
Yet  tarried  out,  for  thee,  the  appointed  woe ; 
Think  of  His  loneliness  in  places  dim 
Where  no  man  comforted  nor  cared  for  Him ; 
Think  how  He  prayed,  unaided  and  alone, 
In  that  dread  agony,  Thy  will  be  done  ! 
Friend,  do  not  thou  despair  ! 

Christ,  in  His  Heaven  of  heavens,  will  hear  thy  prayer." 

We  do  not  understand  the  true  philosophy  of  Christian- 
ity. Where  we  ought  to  see  it,  in  the  life  and  character  of 
Christ,  we  do  not  look  for  it,  thinking  of  Him  always  as 
God  our  Redeemer,  and  not  as  Man  our  example,  How 
much  divine  wisdom  we  lose  in  this  misconception  !  His 
was  the  true  life  of  man  upon  earth.  How  clearly  He  saw 
His  work ;  how  bravely  He  went  up  to  it ;  how  patiently  He 
labored  in  it ;  how  humbly  He  submitted  to  the  will  of  God ; 
how  meekly  He  bore  every  thing  which  was  laid  upon  Him  ! 
He  had  no  rest,  —  in  the  sense  in  which  man  cries  out  for 
it,  —  no  rest,  night  nor  day :  but  He  had  the  peace  of  God, 
which  is,  in  this  world,  the  foreshadowing  of  the  heavenly 
rest.  And  this  peace  —  the  peace  arising  from  walking 
submissively  in  the  work  assigned  to  us  —  is  all  that  we 
may  look  for  here.  And  Christ  made  us  no  larger  promise. 
He  never  said  that  His  disciples  should  have  rest.  He 
could  not  say  it ;  for  He  said,  "  The  disciple  must  be  as  his 


Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove  !  7 

Master ; "  and  the  Master  had  no  rest :  but  He  did  say, 
"  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you." 1 
And  this  peace  is  our  exceeding  great  reward  in  this  life  ; 
never  to  be  got,  however,  by  taking  the  wings  of  the  dove 
and  flying  away,  but  only  by  imitating  Christ,  and  setting 
our  faces  like  a  flint  towards  our  work,  leaving  it  with  God 
to  portion  out  our  happiness.  And  when  we  do  appre- 
ciate the  glory  of  submission,  when  we  in  our  work  go 
straight  forward  whither  the  Spirit  leads  us  to  go,  when 
we,  in  our  sufferings,  see  God's  love  ever  as  a  bow  in  the 
cloud,  and  are  led  to  say,  "It  is  well,  for  the  Lord  hath 
done  it : "  then  do  we  read  aright  the  lessons  of  Christian- 
ity ;  we  know  its  meaning ;  we  understand  its  life ;  we 
snatch  from  it  its  blessings ;  we  look  up  and  see  Heaven 
opened.  We  are  no  longer  groping  amid  the  beggarly  ele- 
ments of  this  world ;  its  philosophy  we  have  cast  aside  as 
fruitless ;  its  hopes  we  have  trampled  upon  as  vanity ;  its 
practice  forever  feeds  unrest.  We  have  found  at  last  the 
true  happiness  of  man ;  and  we  have  found  it,  where  man 
had  never  looked  for  it,  in  labor,  in  duty,  in  suffering,  in 
humility,  in  looking  to  God's  directions,  as  a  maiden  looks 
to  the  hand  of  her  mistress.  Man  had  supposed  that  it  lay 
in  ease,  in  wealth,  in  honor,  in  freedom  of  will,  in  indepen- 
dence of  action  :  but  the  Christian,  in  following  Christ,  has 
found  that  his  way  to  rest  lay  not  among  these,  but  turned 
aside  to  the  humble  in  heart,  to  the  lowly  in  spirit,  to  the 
meek  in  nature,  to  the  suffering  and  the  smitten;  and  ended 
ofttimes  in  shame  and  the  cross.  But  with  all  these  was 
peace,  —  peace  that  passeth  understanding ;  peace  which 
the  world  can  neither  give  nor  take  away. 

How  hard  it  is  to  do  our  part  in  life  patiently  and  sub- 
missively, in  the  true  spirit  of  the  martyr  !  Oh,  how  little 
man  knows  wherein  true  greatness  lies  !    He  is  looking  for 

1  S.  John  xiv.  27. 


8  Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove  ! 

it  in  action  :  God  sees  it  in  obedience.  He  is  measuring  it  by 
deeds :  God  is  measuring  it  by  suffering.  He  is  embalming 
it  in  song  and  story,  because  of  its  glitter  and  display  :  God 
is  embalming  it  in  His  book  of  life,  because  of  its  quiet 
faith  and  its  unmurmuring  trust.  Man  sees  not  the  truest 
glory  of  his  fellow-man :  that  is  hid  away  in  the  secrets  of 
his  own  heart,  and  is  known  only  to  God.  Man's  noblest 
and  hardest  conflicts  are  with  himself,  and  his  noblest  vic- 
tories are  over  his  own  nature.  His  temptation  is  to  take 
wings  and  fly  away  from  whatsoever  is  painful,  or  irksome, 
or  self-denying.  His  victory  is  in  overcoming  this  allure- 
ment, and  standing  firm  at  his  post  of  duty  or  of  suffering. 
We  are  surrounded  by  humble,  unknown  beings,  whose  lives 
are  truly  sublime,  whose  triumphs  over  self  are  more  glori- 
ous in  God's  sight  than  all  the  victories  of  earthly  conquer- 
ors. When  His  books  shall  be  opened,  and  His  record  of 
goodness  and  of  greatness  shall  be  displayed  to  the  world, 
how  many  names  of  which  the  world  has  never  heard  shall 
stand  high  upon  that  roll  of  life  ?  —  here  a  young  heart, 
which  smothered  its  affections  that  it  might  devote  itself  to 
the  duties  which  home  exacted  of  it ;  there  a  wife,  who  bore 
in  secret,  scorn,  contumely,  contempt,  persecution,  for  the 
sake  of  Christ  and  His  sacred  cause  :  here  a  hero,  who  de- 
spised the  shame  of  the  world,  that  he  might  bear  the  cross 
of  Christ  unsullied  through  the  world  ;  there  a  sufferer,  who 
lay  for  years  without  murmuring,  in  the  hands  of  God,  help- 
less, desolate,  with  no  comforter  but  his  Saviour :  here  a 
daughter  of  affliction,  from  whom  has  been  stripped  the 
dearest  objects  of  affection,  and  yet  who,  kissing  the  rod, 
looks  submissive  into  the  face  of  God;  there  a  victim  of 
calumny,  who  bears  for  a  whole  lifetime  unmerited  re- 
proach, and  leaves  vengeance  and  vindication  to  the  pleas- 
ure of  God.     Oh,  cases  like  these  abound  in  the  world ; 


Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove  /  9 

are  found  everywhere  in  secret  places  of  which  that  world 
never  hears ;  are  the  true  poetry  of  religion,  sweet  music 
in  the  ear  of  God,  rich  fragrance  of  prayer  and  faith  rising 
up  before  His  presence.  Could  the  heart-life  of  such  as 
these  be  written,  —  obscure,  nameless  people,  —  it  would 
flash  upon  the  world  a  moral  heroism  second  only  to  the 
life  of  Christ,  —  a  sublime  self-devotion,  learned  only  from 
that  inimitable  Master.  These  are  the  beings  —  sufferers 
and  martyrs  though  they  seem  to  be  —  who  know  what  rest 
is.  They  have  ceased  their  struggle  with  the  world  ;  they 
have  subdued  their  own  restless  unbelief :  and  now  they 
have  quieted  themselves  upon  the  bosom  of  God,  just  as 
little  children  sink  to  sleep  upon  the  bosoms  of  their  moth- 
ers, their  hearts  still  sobbing  out  their  griefs,  their  eyes 
still  wet  with  the  tears  of  their  young  sorrow. 

This  is  the  path  to  rest,  my  beloved  hearers,  and  the  only 
one  which  God  has  marked  out  for  man.  Even  if  the  wish 
of  the  Psalmist  could  be  gratified,  and  you  could  have  wiugs 
like  a  dove,  you  could  not  fly  anywhere  that  would  give  you 
rest.  That  must  be  wrung  out  of  labor,  out  of  duty,  out  of 
suffering,  out  of  an  imitation  of  Christ.  That  must  be  won, 
not  by  flight,  but  by  endurance ;  not  by  a  cowardly  deser- 
tion of  the  post  at  which  God  has  placed  us,  but  by  stand- 
ing to  it  through  every  privation  and  every  suffering.  Sub- 
mission to  God's  will,  whatever  that  may  be,  is  the  first  step 
toward  it.  In  due  time  will  come  the  fruits  of  this  sub- 
mission,—  peace,  and  even  joy:  and  then  will  man  learn, 
what  is  the  true  lesson  of  life,  —  that  unrest  is  within  him- 
self, and  is  the  child  of  unbelief  and  vain  desires ;  that  it 
has  but  slight  connection  with  the  circumstances  of  life ; 
that  it  can  never  be  quieted  by  change  of  scene  or  condi- 
tion, or  by  gratification  of  its  wishes ;  that  even  the  wings 
of  the  morning  cannot  bear  it  away  from  the  heart.  David's 


io        Oh  that  I  had  Wings  like  a  Dove! 

wish  was  vain ;  it  was  one,  nevertheless,  in  which  we  all 
sometimes  indulge.  Let  us  drive  it  away  from  us  as  a  temp- 
tation ;  and  seek  for  rest  —  where  Christ  found  it  —  in 
running  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  look- 
ing unto  Jesus  as  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  Faith. 


ffeeccwt)  Sermon 


And  I  said,  This  is  mine  infirmity :  but  I  will  remember  the  years 
of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High.  —  Psalm  Ixxvii.  10. 

npHE  Psalms  are  what  may  be  termed,  in  modern  phrase- 


■  ology,  the  "experience"  of  David.  In  them  we  are 
permitted  to  trace  the  workings  of  a  Christian  heart  as  dis- 
tinctly as  if  they  were  the  pulsations  of  our  own  ;  to  exam- 
ine minutely  the  dealings  of  God  with  a  man  whom  He 
declares  to  have  been,  despite  his  infirmities,  a  man  after 
His  own  heart.  And  an  unspeakable  privilege  it  is,  to  be 
allowed  to  read  a  soul  in  which  God  delighted,  and  to 
analyze  feelings  which  were  acceptable  with  Him.  Left  to 
ourselves,  we  should  often  be  sadly  disturbed  at  our  own 
spiritual  condition ;  we  should  be  tempted  to  believe  that 
no  other  Christian  had  ever  experienced  the  sad  variations 
which  disturb  our  religious  life.  But  having  before  us  such 
an  example  as  David ;  possessing  what  may  be  considered 
the  daily  journal  of  his  feelings  and  emotions;  studying 
them  as  they  are  laid  bare  in  their  weakness,  as  well  as 
exhibited  in  their  power :  we  can  feel  "  the  pulses  of  our 
Psalmist's  passions  beating  their  ditties  as  we  lay  our 
hearts  unto  them." 1  They  become  a  standard  for  us  ;  a 
spiritual  mirror  in  which  we  may  see  our  own  affections  re- 
flected. His  experience  of  God's  dealings  with  his  soul  is 
written  for  our  instruction  in  righteousness ;  and  the  phases 
of  his  feelings  are  indications  to  us  of  what  we  may  expect 
in  the  progress  of  our  spiritual  life.    Just  as  we  see  him 


1  Jackson. 


12  This  is  mine  Infirmity. 

full  of  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  to-day ;  and  then  to-mor- 
row cast  into  despondency  and  unbelief :  so  may  we  antici- 
pate changes  in  our  perceptions  of  God's  relation  to  us. 
Our  comfort,  our  sorrow ;  our  fear,  our  confidence ;  our 
hope,  our  despair :  are  all  exhibited  to  us  in  some  one  or 
other  of  those  exquisite  Psalms  which  he  poured  forth  as 
indicative  of  his  own  emotions ;  and  their  rapid  and  often 
fearful  variations  are  just  as  clearly  marked  in  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  our  condition.  Many  a  Christian  heart  has  found 
reason  again  and  again  to  thank  God  for  having  conde- 
scended to  unfold  to  us,  through  His  Spirit,  the  inner  work- 
ings of  a  human  heart,  as  it  was  growing  in  grace  and  be- 
coming assimilated  to  Himself.  The  sanctified  heart,  the 
heart  already  made  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light,  is  not  what  the  Christian  craves  for  his  contempla- 
tion. He  wants  to  study  the  heart  in  its  struggles  after 
sanctification  ;  —  in  its  throbs  and  pulsations  as  it  battles  in 
the  stern  strife  with  temptation  and  sin,  and  the  enemies 
of  its  inner  life.  It  is  not  the  conqueror  with  the  crown 
upon  his  head  and  the  palm-branches  of  victory  in  his  hand, 
that  is  the  most  useful  exemplar  to  the  warring  child  of 
God :  but  it  is  the  man  of  infirmity,  and  yet  the  man  after 
God's  own  heart,  whom  it  craves  to  look  upon,  as  he  rages 
in  the  midst  of  the  battle-field,  —  now  in  the  dust,  and  anon 
flashing  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  in  the  face  of  the  adver- 
sary ;  now  crying  for  help  with  the  feebleness  of  a  child, 
and  anon  shouting  forth  the  praises  of  Him  who  hath  deliv- 
ered him  from  the  power  of  the  enemy.  The  soldier  who  is 
girding  on  his  harness  for  the  field  cares  not  to  look  upon 
the  triumphal  car,  save  as  it  may  prove  an  incentive  to  his 
ambition ;  but  rather  loves  to  fight  over  with  the  veteran 
the  battles  he  has  won,  and  to  learn  the  arts  and  contriv- 
ances by  which  he  overcame  the  foe  and  laid  him  prostrate 
in  the  dust.    It  is  in  the  Revelation  only  —  the  last  and 


This  is  mine  Infirmity.  13 

consummating  Book  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  —  that  we 
find  those  pictures  of  victory  and  of  Heaven  which  are  so 
glorious  for  the  Christian  :  as  if  to  teach  us  that  the  great- 
est portion  of  our  lives,  like  the  largest  portion  of  the  Bible, 
is  to  be  occupied  with  the  good  fight  of  Faith ;  while  vic- 
tory, triumph,  rest,  reward,  are  to  be  left  for  the  consum- 
mation of  all  things. 

Hence  is  it  so  very  interesting  a  feature  in  our  Liturgy, 
that  such  large  portions  of  the  Psalms  of  David  are  ap- 
pointed to  be  read  upon  every  Lord's  day;  —  enough  to 
ensure  to  every  Christian  soul  the  "  meat  in  due  season  " 
which  it  requires.  So  intermingled  are  the  Psalmist's  joys 
with  his  lamentations ;  so  rapid  is  the  change  from  the  full 
assurance  of  hope  to  the  deep  despondency  of  a  forsaken 
soul ;  so  frequently  does  he  run  the  gamut  from  the  lowest 
notes  of  a  sinner  humbled  in  the  dust  to  the  highest  out- 
bursts of  thanksgiving  and  of  praise :  that  almost  every 
selection  of  Psalms  will  furnish  its  tone  for  every  heart,  and 
the  mourning  Christian  and  the  peaceful  Christian  and  the 
rejoicing  Christian  will  each  find  something  that  shall  har- 
monize with  his  own  condition  and  satisfy  the  cravings  of 
his  own  soul.  Sadly  ignorant  must  be  that  mind,  or  miser- 
ably dull  that  spirit,  which  can  find  no  music  in  the  tones 
of  David's  harp  ;  which  can  pass  uncheered  through  such  a 
flood  of  Christian  light.  Still  more  forlorn  the  condition  of 
those  who  can  quarrel  with  the  Church,  because  she  brings 
these  glorious  ditties  so  daily  to  her  children's  minds ;  — 
because,  like  a  tender  mother,  she  gives  them  line  upon 
line,  and  precept  upon  precept,  from  the  song-book  of  the 
sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel. 

How  cheering  to  us  that  David  had  his  infirmity  !  —  that 
he  was  not  a  being  of  perfection,  and  that  his  infirmity  was 
just  the  infirmity  which  is  most  common  to  us  all,  —  that 
of  distrusting  God ;  of  not  believing  in  His  promises,  because 


14  This  is  mine  Infirmity, 

they  seem,  for  a  little  while,  to  lack  fulfillment.  The  burden 
of  the  Psalm  from  which  my  text  is  taken,  is  a  declaration 
of  his  distrust  of  God ;  and  he  recovers  himself  by  confess- 
ing that  it  was  his  infirmity,  and  by  casting  himself  back 
upon  the  memory  of  God's  mercy  and  loving-kindness  in 
the  years  that  were  gone.  "  I  said,  This  is  mine  infirmity  : 
but  I  will  remember  the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most 
High.  I  will  remember  the  works  of  the  Lord  :  surely  I 
will  remember  thy  wonders  of  old."  I  say,  how  cheering 
this  is,  that  it  is  not  only  we  who  have  our  infirmities,  who 
are  filled  with  murmuring  and  distrust,  who  require  to  look 
back  to  past  experience  for  our  comfort  and  our  assurance : 
but  that  this  veteran  servant  of  God,  this  chosen  child  of 
grace,  this  man  of  Christian  struggle  from  his  boyhood, 
this  spiritually-minded  saint,  is  compelled  to  make  the  con- 
fession of  his  weakness,  and  to  pursue  the  very  course  which 
we  must  pursue  for  the  resumption  of  his  faith  and  his 
peace.  Such  confessions  are  our  life,  not  because  we  rejoice 
in  iniquity,  not  because  we  are  glad  over  the  infirmities  of 
the  Saints,  but  because  it  gives  us  hope  that  as  they  con- 
quered those  infirmities,  through  grace,  and  "  obtained  a 
good  report,"  so  may  we  overcome  ours  through  the  strength 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  rejoice  through  hope  of  the 
grace  of  God.  This  feature  runs  through  Christianity,  and 
makes  it  the  precious  Gospel  which  it  is.  The  infirmities 
of  the  Saints  are  never  concealed,  but  are  made  manifest,  so 
that  the  struggling  saints  of  God,  conscious  of  their  weak- 
nesses, may  not  despair,  but  may  rather  rejoice  that  they 
have  a  God  who  has  unveiled  the  infirmities  of  His  chosen 
children ;  that  they  have  a  Saviour  who  can  be  touched 
with  a  feeling  of  those  infirmities ;  that  a  Spirit  has  been 
vouchsafed  them,  who  is  promised  especially  to  help  those 
infirmities. 

It  is  frequently  made  an  objection  to  the  Bible  that  such 


This  is  mine  Infirmity.  15 

and  such  individuals,  patriarchs,  prophets,  kings,  apostles, 
have  been  exhibited  therein  as  men  of  very  great  infirmities, 
and,  in  some  instances,  as  men  who  have  committed  enor- 
mous sins.  The  impression  seems  to  be  left  upon  certain 
minds,  that  such  individuals  could  not  be  accepted  by  a  holy 
God ;  nay,  more,  that  a  religion  must  be  worth  very  little 
whose  chief  Saints  could  have  been  guilty  of  such  weak- 
nesses, —  to  use  no  harsher  word.  The  fact  I  shall  not  con- 
trovert 5  but  that  it  ought  to  be  an  objection  to  the  scheme 
of  religion  contained  in  the  Bible,  I  cannot  admit.  To  me 
it  is  one  of  the  clearest  proofs  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
Bible  5  for,  if  the  Saints  of  the  Bible  had  been  represented 
as  faultless  men,  their  conduct  would  not  have  harmonized 
with  the  plan  of  salvation,  with  the  scope  and  purpose  of 
the  economy  of  grace.  As  I  understand  Christianity,  it  has 
come  to  save  sinners,  and  to  change  them  into  saints  meet 
for  the  inheritance  of  Heaven.  These  sinners  are  to  be 
saved  through  grace,  not  by  any  merit  or  deserving  of  their 
own.  And  when  this  grace  has  worked  upon  the  heart,  it 
is  only  the  beginning  of  a  growth  in  grace,  which  is  to  go 
on  through  a  lifetime  of  discipline  until  it  shall  be  perfected 
in  glory.  "  And  he  said,  So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a 
man  should  cast  seed  into  the  ground ;  and  should  sleep, 
and  rise  night  and  day,  and  the  seed  should  spring  and 
grow  up,  he  knoweth  not  how.  For  the  earth  bringeth 
forth  fruit  of  herself ;  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after 
that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 1  If,  according  to  the  plan 
of  salvation,  the  children  of  God  were  to  be  perfect  at  once, 
why  a  Saviour,  continued  in  Heaven  to  be  their  Advocate  ? 
Why  such  a  precious  promise  as  this,  "  If  any  man  sin,  we 
have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  right- 
eous :  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins  ?  "  2  Why  a 
Spirit  sent  to  earth  to  witness  with  our  spirits,  to  cheer,  to 

1  S.  Mark  iv.  26-28.  2  \  s.  jolm  ji.  l,  % 


1 6  This  is  mine  Infirmity. 

comfort,  to  sanctify  us,  to  help  our  infirmities  ?  Why  the 
chastening  rod  of  a  Father  held  perpetually  over  us,  and 
the  solemn  declaration  sounded  in  our  ears,  "  Whom  the 
Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom 
he  receiveth  ?  " 1  Why  the  constant  injunctions  of  the 
Apostles  to  "  work  out  our  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling," 2  —  to  "  run,  not  as  uncertainly,"  —  to  "  fight,  not 
as  one  that  beateth  the  air," — but  to  "keep  under  the 
body  and  bring  it  into  subjection,  lest  while  preaching  to 
others,"  he  himself  "  should  be  a  castaway  ?  "  3  No  !  this 
manifestation  of  the  infirmity  of  the  Saints  is  just  in  har- 
mony with  the  Gospel  scheme ;  —  especially  what  ought  to 
have  been  expected  in  the  development  of  a  "  salvation  by 
faith,  through  grace."  It  is  only  when  we  turn  to  a  spu- 
rious Christianity,  that  we  find  perfect  saints.  The  Saints 
of  the  Bible  are  all  men  of  infirmity,  and  therefore  it  was 
that  they  gloried  in  a  "  High  Priest  that  might  be  touched 
with  a  feeling  of  their  infirmities " ;  therefore  it  was  that 
they  cried  out  for  a  "  Spirit  that  might  make  intercession 
for  them  with  groanings,  which  cannot  be  uttered." 4  As 
the  religion,  so  the  saints.  A  religion  of  grace :  Saints 
having  infirmity.  A  religion  of  merit ;  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, saints  pretending  to  perfection,  —  "  whited  sepul- 
chres, full  of  dead  men's  bones,  and  of  all  uncleanness."  5 

Such  is  the  harmony,  as  I  feel  it,  between  saints  having 
infirmity  and  a  salvation  through  grace;  and  such  is  the 
attitude  which,  as  all  analogy  teaches  us,  should  be  occu- 
pied by  those  who  are  in  a  state  of  tutelage.  What  is  the 
necessity  of  spiritual  discipline,  if  we  are  already  perfect  ? 
What  of  chastening,  if  we  have  no  faults  ?  What  of  the 
means  of  grace,  if  we  have  no  evil  habits  to  be  rooted  out, 
no  good  ones  to  be  built  up  ?    All  the  instruction  of  the 

1  Heb.  xii.  6.  2  Phil.  ii.  12.  a  1  Cor.  ix.  26,  27. 

4  Eom.  viii.  26.  5  S.  Matt,  xxiii.  27. 


This  is  mine  Infirmity.  17 

Bible,  and  all  the  institutions  of  the  Church,  teach  us  that 
the  Church  of  Christ  is  a  school,  planted  in  the  world,  in 
which  Christians  have  to  he  prepared  for  their  places  in 
Heaven,  —  prepared  through  temptation,  through  weakness, 
through  suffering,  through  trial.  And  if  this  be  so,  is  not 
infirmity  necessarily  a  part  of  the  very  being  of  a  Christian  ? 
What  the  need  of  placing  a  child  at  school,  unless  it  may  be 
trained  in  knowledge  and  in  virtue?  When  praising  the 
management  of  a  school,  do  we  say  that  it  is  a  school  whose 
scholars  have  no  infirmities  :  or  that  it  is  one  where  those 
infirmities  are  gradually  cured  ?  Certainly  the  latter.  And 
we  give  our  faith  to  it  when  we  see  the  vicious  reclaimed, 
and  the  ignoraut  enlightened,  and  the  weak  character  made 
strong;  and  not  when  we  learn  that  the  entrance  to  the 
school  has  been  debarred  to  all  such  !  When  praising  the 
success  of  a  parent's  efforts,  do  we  speak  of  his  family  circle 
as  well  disciplined  when  we  say  that  his  children  had  no 
faults :  or  when  we  show  that  very  gross  faults  have  been 
cured  under  his  arrangements  ?  And  so  with  Christianity. 
So  far  as  the  justification  of  a  sinner  is  concerned,  that  is 
the  effect  of  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  but  after  we 
have  received  peace  through  that  justificatiou,  we  must  be 
sanctified  and  made  meet  for  Heaven.  Now  what  should 
be  the  praise  of  the  Church,  —  and  this  brings  us  back  to 
the  objection  we  are  considering,  —  that  there  are  no  in- 
firmities within  the  Church:  or  that  she  gradually  cures 
them  ?  that  as  soon  as  an  individual  crosses  her  threshold, 
his  sins  are  all  laid  down :  or  that  she  is  a  school  in  which 
the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  made  responsive  to  the 
infirmities  of  the  creature,  and  thus  weak  sinful  men  are 
gradually  built  up  into  the  image  and  likeness  of  Christ  ? 
How  futile,  then,  to  make  it  an  objection  to  the  Bible,  con- 
taining the  scheme  of  salvation  which  it  does,  that  it  por- 
2 


1 8  This  is  mine  Infirmity. 

trays  for  our  example,  and  for  God's  commendation,  Saints 
who  have  been  men  of  like  passions  with  ourselves ! 

To  return  to  our  subject  of  rejoicing,  —  that  we  find  such 
a  Saint  as  David  confessing  his  infirmity,  because  each 
one  of  us  has  our  infirmity.  Who  that  kneels  at  this  Com- 
munion Table,  but  has  occasion  to  say  of  some  weakness, 
of  some  shortcoming,  "  This  is  mine  infirmity  99  ?  "  The 
infirmities  of  the  believer,"  says  a  beautiful  writer  of  the 
present  day,  "  are  as  varied  as  they  are  numerous.  Some 
are  weak  in  faith,  and  are  always  questioning  their  interest 
in  Christ.  Some  superficial  in  knowledge,  and  shallow  in 
experience,  and  ever  exposed  to  the  crudities  of  error  and 
to  the  assaults  of  temptation.  Some  are  slow  travellers  in 
the  divine  life,  and  are  always  in  the  rear ;  while  yet  others 
are  often  ready  to  halt  altogether.  Then  there  are  others 
who  groan  beneath  the  burden  of  bodily  infirmity,  exerting 
a  morbid  influence  upon  their  spiritual  experience ;  —  a  ner- 
vous temperament  —  a  state  of  perpetual  depression  and 
despondency  —  the  constant  corroding  of  mental  disquie- 
tude —  physical  ailment  —  imaginary  forebodings  —  a  facile 
yielding  to  temptation — petulance  of  spirit  —  unguarded- 
ness  of  speech  —  gloomy  interpretations  of  Providence  — 
an  eye  that  views  only  the  dark  hues  of  the  cloud,  the  som- 
bre shadings  of  the  picture."  1  Such  is  the  catalogue  of 
infirmities  which  a  Christian  of  deep  experience  has  drawn 
up  for  our  consideration  ;  and  among  them  I  fear  that  most 
of  you  can  lay  your  finger  upon  some  one  and  say,  "  6  This  is 
mine  infirmity,'  this  has  been  the  plague  of  my  Christian 
life,  the  enemy  of  my  Christian  peace.  With  this  have  I 
battled  !  Against  this  have  I  struggled  !  Again  and  again 
hath  it  cast  me  down  ;  again  and  again  have  I  risen  victo- 
rious over  it.    But  still  c  it  is  mine  infirmity.'    Shall  it 

1  Winslow. 


This  is  mine  Infirmity.  19 

conquer  me.  or  shall  I  be  conqueror,  and  more  thau  con- 
queror, through  Him  that  loved  me  ?  M 

Think  not,  child  of  God,  whoever  you  may  be,  that  you 
are  bearing  this  infirmity  alone !  Think  not  that  you  are 
unpitied  in  your  lamentations  over  it,  without  sympathy 
in  your  struggles  against  it.  You  have,  thanks  be  to  God, 
a  High-Priest  who  can  be  touched  with  a  feeling  of  your 
infirmities  ;  who  is  always  ready  to  pour  out,  upon  every 
sincere  straggler,  of  the  fullness  of  His  grace  for  that  very 
single  infirmity  which  is  distressing  you.  What  is  it  ?  "  Is 
it  sin,  is  it  sorrow,  is  it  sickness,  is  it  want  ?  "  What  is  it  P 
"  Is  it  some  fault  of  temper,  some  levity  of  disposition,  some 
lust  of  the  flesh,  some  temptation  of  the  heart  ?  "  What 
is  it  ?  "  Is  it  unbelief,  is  it  despondency,  is  it  faithlessness, 
is  it  coldness  of  spirit  P  "  Xo  matter  what  it  is,  my  hearer, 
if  you  feel  it  as  an  infirmity ;  if  you  strive  against  it  as  an 
infirmity ;  if  you  mourn  over  it,  and  would  cast  it  off,  as 
an  infirmity :  you  have  the  burden  carried  for  you,  for  the 
Scripture  tells  us,  u  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  car- 
ried our  sicknesses. ??  "  Wondrous  view  of  the  incarnate 
God !  n  as  one  has  beautifully  expressed  it :  «  That  very 
infirmity  which  now  bows  you  to  the  earth,  by  reason  of 
which  you  can  in  no  wise  lift  up  yourself,  your  Saviour 
bore.  It  bowed  Him  to  the  dust,  and  brought  the  crimson 
drops  to  His  brow.  And  is  this  no  consolation  ?  Does  it 
not  make  your  infirmity  even  pleasant,  to  remember  that 
Jesus  once  bore  it,  aud  in  sympathy  bears  it  still  P  "  It  is 
a  blessed  consolation  to  feel  that  we  have  a  Friend,  closer  to 
us  than  a  brother,  who  is  touched  with  our  infirmity  ;  who 
instead  of  covering  us  with  reproaches  because  we  are  weak, 
bears  those  weaknesses  for  us.  How  tender  is  our  Saviour ! 
How  beautiful  our  religion  !  How  wreathed  is  it  with  the 
richest  treasures  of  love  and  of  sympathy  !  How  little  do 
they  understand  it,  who  would  change  it  into  a  thing  of 


20  This  is  mine  Infirmity. 

harshness,  and  transform  the  gushing  affections  of  an 
Emmanuel,  a  God  with  us,  into  the  stern  severity  of  a 
God  afar  off! 

And  can  you  not,  my  fellow-Christians,  imitate  David, 
and  find  in  your  own  experience  some  consolation  for  the 
infirmity  which  weighs  upon  you  ?  It  was  when  he  was 
interrogating  his  gracious  Lord  in  strains  like  these,  "Will 
the  Lord  cast  off  forever?  and  will  he  he  favorable  no 
more  ?  Is  his  mercy  clean  gone  forever  ?  doth  his  promise 
fail  for  evermore  ?  Hath  God  forgotten  to  he  gracious? 
Hath  he  in  anger  shut  up  his  tender  mercies  ?  55  that  he 
was  fain  to  add :  "  This  is  mine  infirmity ;  hut  I  will  re- 
member the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High." 
And  have  you,  my  beloved  hearer,  no  such  years  to  remem- 
ber? Can  you  not  look  back  to  the  days  that  are  gone, 
and  consider  that  in  six  troubles  He  has  delivered  you, 
yea  in  seven  that  no  evil  has  touched  you  ?  And,  consid- 
ering this,  can  you  not  trust  Him  for  the  time  to  come  ? 
Hath  He  yet  permitted  your  infirmity  utterly  to  prevail 
against  you?  Has  it  ever  so  cast  you  down,  as  that 
you  have  let  go  the  anchor  within  the  veil?  Then  why 
lament  for  the  future  ?  Why  distrust  a  God  who  has  sur- 
rounded you  with  mercies  and  blessings,  because  perchance 
there  remains  one  thorn  in  the  flesh?  Has  He  not  told 
you,  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee  ?  "  1  Comfort  your- 
self in  the  past.  Remember  the  works  of  the  Lord,  — 
works  wrought  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  within  your  own  heart,  —  wrought  upon  feelings, 
upon  affections,  upon  intellect,  upon  the  whole  creature, 
soul  and  body,  so  that  you  know  that  you  are  a  new  crea- 
ture in  Christ  Jesus.  Remember  His  wonders  of  old,  — 
wonders  that  you  have  seen  and  rejoiced  in,  when  the  way 
of  the  Lord  was  in  the  sanctuary.    And  even  though  now 

1  2  Cor.  xii.  9. 


This  is  mine  Infirmity.  21 

"  His  way  be  in  the  sea,  and  bis  path  in  the  great  waters, 
and  his  footsteps  be  not  known,"  1  still  trust  in  Him,  and 
be  satisfied  that  He  will  put  upon  you  no  greater  burden 
than  you  can  bear. 

And  let  the  tenderness  of  God  with  our  infirmities  teach 
us  also  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  our  brethren.  Ah  !  my 
hearers,  there  is  a  large  field  of  exhortation  open  for  me  in 
this  direction,  but  I  can  only  touch  it  now.  The  bearing 
the  infirmities  of  the  weak  is  a  grace  too  little  understood, 
and  yet  it  is  the  grace  which  assimilates  us  most  nearly  to 
Christ.  His  distinctive  mark  in  prophecy  was,  "  A  bruised 
reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not 
quench ; " 2  and  by  these  emanations  of  tenderness  —  so 
uncommon  and  so  unknown  in  the  world  —  was  He  to  be 
distinguished  among  the  children  of  men.  And  shall  His 
disciples  be  distinguished  by  any  thing  so  unlike  this  as 
censoriousness,  as  fault-finding,  as  evil-speaking,  as  crush- 
ing those  who  are  already  down,  as  shooting  poisoned  arrows 
at  the  wounded  and  stricken  heart  ?  The  love  of  Christ 
forbid!  Are  you,  my  hearer,  strong  in  the  Lord?  Then 
remember,  "  We  then  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the 
infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  not  to  please  ourselves."  3  Are 
you  yourself  "  compassed  with  infirmity  "  ?  Then  remem- 
ber, that  as  you  desire  the  Lord  Jesus  to  bear  your  infirmi- 
ties, so  should  you  also  bear  the  infirmities  of  others.  Has 
a  Christian  brother  or  sister  been  overtaken  in  a  fault  ? 
44  Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye,  which  are 
spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness ; 
considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted." 4  Let  us  in 
all  things  strive  to  do  unto  others  as  we  would  do  unto  our- 
selves. Our  own  weaknesses  we  confess  to  God,  but  we  do 
not  trumpet  them  forth  to  men.    "  We  unveil  them,"  as 

1  Psalm  lxxvii.  19.  2  Isaiah  xlii.  3.  3  Rom.  xv.  1. 

4  Gal.  vi.  1. 


22 


This  is  mine  Infirmity. 


one  has  exquisitely  worded  it,  "  to  His  eye,  and  He  kindly 
and  graciously  veils  them  from  all  human  eyes.  Be  this 
our  spirit  and  our  conduct  toward  a  weak  and  erring 
brother.  Let  us  rather  part  with  our  right  hand,  than 
publish  his  infirmity  to  others,  and  thus  wound  the  Head 
by  an  unkind  and  unholy  exposure  of  the  faults  and  frailties 
of  a  member  of  His  body,  and  by  so  doing  cause  the  ene- 
mies of  Christ  to  blaspheme  that  worthy  Name  by  the  which 
we  are  called." 

There  may  be  some  one  here  present  who  keeps  aloof 
from  the  Church  of  Christ  because  of  some  infirmity  which 
may  be  weighing  upon  the  conscience.  Is  this  wise  ?  How 
is  the  infirmity  to  be  cured  ?  Whence  is  the  power  to  come 
which  is  to  conquer  the  infirmity  ?  Is  it  not  better  at  once 
to  place  yourself,  in  all  humility  of  spirit,  in  the  school  of 
Christ,  under  the  discipline  of  Christ,  and  endeavor  there  to 
conquer  in  His  strength?  If  you  are  kept  away  only  by 
some  infirmity,  will  it  not  lighten  that  infirmity  to  roll  it 
upon  Christ,  to  permit  the  Holy  Spirit  to  share  it  with  you  ? 
Oh,  keep  not  away  from  Jesus  because  of  the  very  weak- 
nesses which  He  came  to  bear  for  you,  which  He  has  already 
borne  for  you  !  "  Come  unto  me/'  is  His  especial  invitation, 
"  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.'5 1 

i  S.  Matt.  xi.  28. 


€l)itt)  Sermon. 


Pilate  answered,  What  I  have  written  I  have  written.  — 
S.  John  xix.  22. 

TJ  OW  often  a  man  announces  a  great  truth  without  be- 
ing  at  all  conscious  of  it.  His  words  become  words  in 
the  mouth  of  all  the  world,  while  he  spake  them  only  as  the 
appropriate  words  of  the  occasion.  In  some  critical  mo- 
ment of  individual  fortune,  at  some  tirrning-point  of  events 
whose  greatness  he  does  not  appreciate,  he  utters  a  thought 
which  impresses  itself  upon  the  whole  future  of  the  race, 
and  is  repeated  from  generation  to  generation  as  a  solemn 
reality.  These  are  not  inspirations,  because  they  are  not 
suggested  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  they  are  not  the  deduc- 
tions of  reason,  for  they  are  most  often  just  the  words 
which  the  circumstances  call  for.  They  are  not  proverbs, 
for  they  contain  no  particular  antithesis  of  words.  But 
they  have  so  shaped  themselves,  that  they  forever  speak  a 
warning  in  our  ears,  and  haunt  us  like  a  shadow  which  is 
eternally  connected  with  us,  and  which  we  must  one  day 
meet  when  words  shall  become  terrible  realities.  They 
startle  us,  not  because  of  the  present,  but  because  they 
point  us  to  an  unending  future  ;  not  because  they  suggest 
any  thing  which  is  immediately  fearful,  but  because  they 
remind  us  of  something  which  is  to  be  eternally  perma- 
nent. Their  awfulness  is  not  of  to-day,  but  forever.  Their 
sting  gives  no  instant  pain,  but  we  feel  that  it  is  a  worm 
that  shall  never  die. 

"When  Filate  uttered  the  saying  of  our  text,  he  had  no 


24        What  I  have  written  I  have  written. 

conception  what  it  really  imported.  He  spoke  it  in  the 
haughtiness  of  his  heart  and  in  the  indolence  of  his  tem- 
per. He  had  no  thoughts,  when  he  said  it,  either  of  God 
or  man.  He  had  no  conception  that  he  was  fulfilling  the 
foreordinations  of  God ;  or  that  he  was  putting  upon  record 
words  which  should  shake  man's  soul,  whenever  he  might 
ponder  upon  them.  He  was  thinking  only  of  himself ;  and 
when  he  said,  "  What  I  have  written  I  have  written,"  he 
meant  no  more  than  that  he  did  not  choose  to  alter  what  he 
had  already  done,  or  that  he  did  not  deem  the  matter  of 
importance  enough  to  take  any  more  trouhle  about  it. 

And  yet  these  words  teach  us  two  most  solemn  truths, 
truths  which  I  mean  to  dwell  upon  to-day,  and  which  we 
should  all  keep  ever  present  with  us  as  monitors  of  duty,  — 
as  warnings  of  what  is  before  us  in  the  days  which  are  yet 
to  come  upon  us.  There  are  thoughts  which  are  grand 
enough  to  make  us  pause  upon  them,  however  little  we 
may  be  accustomed  to  think  seriously  about  any  thing ; 
and  such  thoughts  are  these  which  arise  naturally  out 
of  Pilate's  answer.  If  there  is  any  thing  which  can  startle 
us  in  life,  it  is  the  fir  ding  that  we  are  swayed  by  influences 
which  we  have  never  counted  upon ;  that  we  are  making 
impressions  which  can  never  be  eradicated.  Both  these 
elements  of  responsibility  are  found  in  Pilate's  answer. 

The  words  which  Pilate  had  written  were,  "  JESUS  OF 
NAZARETH  THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS."  Against 
this  the  Chief  Priests  of  the  Jews  demurred,  saying,  "  Write 
not,  The  King  of  the  Jews ;  but  that  he  said,  I  am  King  of 
the  Jews.  Pilate  answered,  What  I  have  written  I  have 
written."  He  had  been  unconsciously  an  instrument  in  God's 
hands.  Caring  nothing  about  God,  sneering  at  all  truth, 
considering  the  Messiah  as  a  mere  Jewish  impostor,  he  was 
nevertheless  made  to  write  the  truth,  the  mighty  truth  of 
the  times,  upon  the  Cross.  The  King  of  the  Jews  had  come, 


What  I  have  written  I  have  written.  25 

and  they  were  ignorant  of  it ;  but  a  Gentile  and  a  skeptic 
was  made  to  proclaim  it  in  the  most  conspicuous  manner. 
It  was  placed  as  a  title  right  over  the  head  of  the  Crucified. 
It  was  attached  to  the  Cross,  as  if  to  show  that  it  was  the 
royal  chariot  in  which  to  ride  triumphant  to  his  Kingdom. 
It  was  written  in  three  languages,  that  all  the  world  might 
understand  it.  And  when  it  was  objected  to,  the  objection 
was  met  by  the  stubborn  answer,  "  What  I  have  written  I 
have  written."  It  was  the  overruling  power  of  God  using 
this  infidel  as  His  instrument,  and  yet  using  him  in  such 
manner  as  that  he  felt  no  consciousness  of  having  been 
necessitated.  He  had  perfect  liberty  not  to  write  it  at  all. 
He  might  have  altered  it  after  he  had  written  it.  But  yet 
he  did  write  it,  and  would  not  change  it,  even  while  he 
cared  nothing  at  all  about  the  pretensions  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  Thus  is  it  that  God  is  ever  making  the  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  Him,  and  is  compelling  the  indifferent  and 
the  unbelieving  to  bring  His  purposes  to  pass. 

And  in  like  manner  are  we  all  the  unconscious  instru- 
ments of  God  in  working  out  His  purposes.  We  are  pur- 
suing, whether  believers  or  infidels,  what  we  consider  the 
regular  routine  of  life.  One  thing  follows  another  in  reg- 
ular and  natural  succession,  the  thought  of  to-day  follow- 
ing as  we  suppose  logically  the  thought  of  yesterday,  and 
the  action  of  this  hour  treading  consequentially  upon  the 
action  of  the  last.  We  can  perceive  no  interference  with 
the  sequence.  Nothing  comes  violently  to  break  in  upon 
our  train  of  thought,  or  to  change  our  course  of  action. 
If  there  is  any  modification  of  either  opinion  or  conduct,  it 
seems  to  be  produced  by  circumstances  which  were  alto- 
gether ordinary,  and  in  the  course  of  a  reasonable  proba- 
bility. No  man  can  say  that  his  will  has  been  violently 
overruled.  No  angel  has  stood  — that  he  was  conscious  of 
' —  in  his  path  opposing  him  with  the  sword  of  the  Lord. 


26        What  I  have  written  I  have  written. 

No  voice  has  come  to  him  saying,  "  Go  here,"  or  "  Go 
there  "  ;  "  Do  this,"  or  "  Do  that."  Every  thing  has  gone 
on  with  him  as  if  he  were  his  own  master,  the  creature  of 
his  own  will.  And  yet  has  every  individual  of  the  human 
race  been  silently  working  out  the  purposes  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

This  Christians  know  and  rejoice  in.  It  is  their  delight 
and  their  glory  to  know  that  God  is  so  using  them.  It  is 
their  heart's  desire  to  aid  Him  in  the  whole  mystery  of 
His  will.  Their  exceeding  great  consolation  is,  that  they 
are  not  walking  by  the  light  of  their  own  eyes,  but  are  led 
along  paths  of  safety  and  of  peace.  Unbelievers  do  not 
know  it,  and  would  not  perhaps  acknowledge  it ;  but  it  is 
proved  upon  them  by  the  persistent  progress  of  God's  pur- 
poses in  spite  of  all  opposition,  and  by  the  perpetually 
visible  bringing  of  good  for  the  Church  out  of  the  evil  of 
the  world.  We  cannot  trace  the  history  of  nations  in  its 
connection,  for  example,  with  such  an  event  as  the  advent 
of  our  Lord,  without  being  most  forcibly  struck  with  the 
constant  recurrence  of  this  very  thing.  It  was  not  Pilate 
alone  who  was  made  to  testify  to  the  identity  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  as  the  Messiah.  Individuals  and  nations,  all  the 
way  back  to  the  promise  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  had  been 
made  to  do  the  same.  When  Caiaphas,  who  was  the  High 
Priest  that  same  year,  said  unto  the  Jews  in  reference  to 
Jesus,  "  Ye  know  nothing  at  all,  nor  consider  that  it  is  ex- 
pedient for  us,  that  one  man  should  die  for  the  people,  and 
that  the  whole  nation  perish  not :  "  1  was  it  of  his  own  will, 
think  ye,  that  he  uttered  this  prophecy  of  the  necessary 
sacrifice  and  death  of  Christ  ?  Like  Pilate  he  uttered  a 
divine  truth ;  he  carried  on  the  purposes  of  God  :  but  did 
he  intend  it  ?  Did  not  God  overrule  his  wicked  purpose  of 
the  execution  of  an  innocent  Man,  to  the  purposes  of  His 
i  S.  John  xi.  49,  50. 


What  I  have  written  I  have  written.  27 

will  ?  When  a  decree  issued  from  the  court  of  the  Caesars 
that  all  the  world  should  be  taxed,  and  in  pursuance  of  that 
decree  our  Lord's  Mother  according  to  the  flesh  came  up  to 
her  own  City  and  Tribe,  and  brought  forth  her  Son  in 
Bethlehem,  according  to  all  the  prophecies  which  had  been 
forecast  upon  Him  :  was  it  of  his  own  unguided  purpose, 
think  ye,  that  the  Caesar  conceived  such  a  project  of  taxa- 
tion P  He  issued  an  unusual,  but  still  quite  a  natural,  de- 
cree. He  ordained  what  he  supposed  should  redound  to  his 
own  glory  and  his  own  emolument.  He  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  divine  prophecies,  nor  any  idea  of  fulfilling  them. 
The  last  thing  on  earth  he  should  have  dreamed  of,  would 
have  been  the  giving  countenance  to  a  rival  King.  Never- 
theless, this  very  decree  did  carry  Mary  to  Bethlehem,  and 
did  fulfill  the  prophecy  of  Micah  :  "  But  thou,  Bethlehem 
Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among  the  thousands  of 
Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is 
to  be  ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from 
of  old,  from  everlasting."  1  When  Cyrus  and  Darius  issued 
the  decrees  permitting  the  Tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin 
to  return  from  their  captivity  at  Babylon  and  rebuild  the 
city  and  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  was  it  at  all  in  their  minds 
to  fulfill  the  prophecy  of  Jacob  made  a  thousand  years  be- 
fore, that  the  sceptre  should  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a 
lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  until  Shiloh  came  ?  Da- 
rius performed  what  he  considered  a  wise  political  act,  put- 
ting a  strong  people  between  him  and  Egypt.  That  was 
all  his  motive.  And  yet  it  was  the  overruling  hand  of  God 
making  all  things  work  most  naturally  for  His  own  wise 
purposes.  I  might  cite  instance  after  instance  of  this  sort ; 
but  it  is  unnecessary.  These  are  enough  to  show  the 
course  of  God's  dealings,  and  the  mode  of  His  operation. 
The  world  goes  on  naturally ;  each  man  seems  to  do  as  he 

1  Micah  v.  2. 


28        What  I  have  written  I  have  written, 

pleases ;  each  nation  appears  to  be  working  out  its  manifest 
destiny  :  but  yet  in  the  end,  that  comes  to  pass  which  God 
has  foreordained ;  and  when  man  does  not  advance  it  will- 
ingly, he  is  nevertheless  made  to  advance  it  unconsciously. 
He  is  God's  instrument  whether  he  chooses  to  be  or  not. 
The  only  difference  is  that,  if  he  cooperates  with  God 
heartily  and  sincerely,  he  receives  the  "  Well  done,  thou 
good  and  faithful  servant."  1  If  he  does  not,  he  is  still 
made  to  work  for  God,  even  though,  at  the  last,  he  receive 
condemnation. 

This  is  one  truth  which  comes  logically  out  of  Pilate's 
answer,  and  is  worth  a  man's  consideration.  As  I  said  be- 
fore, an  unbeliever  may  not  acknowledge  this  truth,  so  far 
as  any  consciousness  of  his  own  is  concerned.  But  when 
he  perceives,  from  the  whole  history  of  the  world,  how  every 
thing  has  been  overruled  for  the  establishment  and  advance- 
ment of  Christ's  Kingdom,  and  how  naturally  it  appears  to 
have  all  come  to  pass :  should  he  not  consider  this  point, 
whether  he  may  not  be  an  instrument  in  God's  hand,  with- 
out being  conscious  of  it?  Pilate  was  not  conscious  of  it. 
Caiaphas  was  not  conscious  of  it.  Cyrus  was  not  conscious 
of  it.  And  yet  every  one  of  them  was  the  instrument  of 
God,  —  was  a  mere  tool  for  the  economy  of  Grace.  What  a 
silly  position,  to  be  made  an  agent  for  doing  the  very  thing 
you  are  opposing  and  fighting  against;  to  be  clamoring  out 
your  antagonism  against  the  purposes  of  God,  even  while 
you  are  made  unwittingly  to  work  in  the  traces  of  the  char- 
iot of  the  Redeemer !  If  there  is  one  thing  more  than  an- 
other that  should  make  an  unbeliever  gnash  his  teeth,  it  is 
the  absolute  certainty  that  God  is  making  his  wrath  turn  to 
the  glory  of  Christ,  and  is  restraining  that  which  He  does 
not  choose  shall  break  forth  for  the  annoyance  of  the 
Church. 

i  S.  Matt.  xxv.  21. 


What  I  have  written  I  have  written.  29 


But  there  is  another  arid  quite  as  solemn  a  truth  con- 
tained in  these  words  of  Pilate ;  and  it  is,  that  we  are  all 
perpetually  making  impressions  which  can  never  be  changed. 
We  are  all  writing,  writing  upon  most  impressible  materials, 
upon  hearts,  upon  feelings,  upon  affections,  upon  mind,  upon 
character,  upon  soul,  words  which  we  may  never  be  able  to 
alter,  and  of  which  we  shall  be  obliged  to  say  in  sadness 
and  with  trembling,  "  What  I  have  written  I  have  written." 
It  is  there  stamped  upon  friends,  upon  society,  upon  de- 
pendents, upon  children,  upon  wife,  upon  all  that  have  been 
near  my  heart  or  have  nestled  in  my  bosom :  and  I  cannot 
change  it.  I  may  mourn  over  it.  I  may  repent  it  in  dust 
and  ashes.  Tears,  bitter  tears,  may  have  been  shed  to  blot 
it  out.  Prayers,  earnest  prayers,  may  have  been  poured  out 
to  God  for  forgiveness.  I  may  have  felt  the  balm  of  comfort 
and  the  assurance  of  pardon  :  but  still,  "  What  I  have  writ- 
ten I  have  written/'  and  there  it  stands  forever.  It  has 
fallen  from  my  lips ;  it  has  been  set  down  by  my  pen ;  it 
has  been  published  by  my  conduct ;  my  example  has  given 
it  currency ;  it  has  gone  forth,  from  me :  and  I  cannot  arrest 
it.  It  was  in  my  power  not  to  have  written  it  in  any  of 
these  ways  :  but  having  done  it,  it  is  out  of  my  power  to 
check  the  evil.  My  family  has  drunk  it  in.  The  circle  of 
my  acquaintance  has  seized  upon  it  as  truth.  I  now  know 
it  to  be  poison,  rank  poison  :  but  I  myself  have  infused  it 
into  the  circulation,  and  cannot  check  its  fatal  progress.  I 
see  it  extending  and  extending,  like  a  circle  in  the  waters : 
and  I  stand  impotent.  The  law  of  Nature  about  which  I 
have  been  indifferent  or  ignorant,  is  working  its  terrible 
consequences :  and  that  law  is,  that  an  impulse  once  given 
must  go  on  until  its  force  is  exhausted.  And  what  is  there 
to  exhaust  the  force  of  evil  words,  of  evil  examples,  of 
evil  writings,  of  evil  impressions  ?  They  are  communicated 
from  mind  to  mind,  and  from  heart  to  heart,  and  from  soul 


30        What  I  have  written  I  have  written, 

to  soul,  unendingly.  They  begin  from  me,  or  from  you,  and 
they  cleave  their  evil  track  through  the  generations  of  men  : 
and  they  find  their  home  in  hell. 

It  is  amazing  that  any  thinking  man  can  he  indifferent 
about  the  impressions  he  is  making.  If  he  truly  considers 
this  expression,  "  What  I  have  written  I  have  written,"  he 
cannot  be  careless  of  the  consequences  of  his  simplest 
words.  When  I  speak,  or  write,  or  act :  my  words,  my  writ- 
ings, my  deeds,  are  not  thrown  upon  the  desert  air,  are 
not  dispersed  and  scattered  as  the  mists  of  a  landscape. 
They  are  received  into  pure  and  tender  minds,  —  minds 
made  more  tender  by  affection  and  kindred ;  they  are 
taken  hold  of  by  hearts,  loving  hearts,  that  are  trusting  to 
us  and  resting  upon  us ;  they  are  caught  up  by  souls,  im- 
mortal souls,  which  are  looking  to  us  for  knowledge  and 
culture  :  and  with  these  they  incorporate  themselves.  They 
grow  into  the  nature,  and  we  cannot  get  them  out.  Child- 
hood assimilates  them.  Youth  is  guided  by  them.  Man- 
hood teaches  them.  Whatever  that  childhood  becomes, 
whatever  that  youth  may  lead  to,  wherever  the  teachings 
of  that  manhood  may  reach  to,  or  whatever  they  may  end 
in  :  I  am  the  responsible  party.  The  evil  is  upon  me.  The 
sin  is  at  my  door.  That  mischief  which  I  see  expanding, 
forever  expanding,  I  set  in  motion.  Alas  for  me !  "  What 
I  have  written  I  have  written." 

And  ofttimes  we  are  writing  by  authority.  We  are  mak- 
ing utterances  (and  you  must  remember  that  utterances  can 
be  made  by  writing  as  well  as  by  speaking,  by  acting  as  well 
as  by  writing,  by  example  as  well  as  by  action)  which  God 
has  commissioned  us  to  set  forth  as  parents,  as  masters,  as 
teachers,  as  citizens,  as  His  own  commissioned  ambassa- 
dors :  and  this  adds  greatly  to  the  terror  of  those  words, 
"  What  I  have  written  I  have  written."  When  a  man  has 
no  special  authority,  the  things  he  writes  upon  the  world 


What  I  have  written  I  have  written,  31 

are  not  so  important,  do  not  carry  so  much  force,  have  not 
the  immense  influence  which  belongs  to  those  who  are  stand- 
ing in  the  position  of  domestic  or  social  power.  They  may 
do  great  mischief ;  they  may  be  seeds  of  evil  that  shall  float 
upon  the  air  and  drop  their  curse  hither  and  thither :  yet 
they  are  not  likely  to  make  the  mark  which  things  written 
by  authority  do  make.  But  when  it  can  be  said,  —  This  is 
the  writing  of  a  Father  upon  my  mind,  upon  my  heart,  up- 
on my  affections,  upon  my  imagination,  upon  all  my  asso- 
ciations, upon  my  soul ;  —  This  is  the  writing  of  a  Master 
whom  God  has  set  to  guide  me ;  —  This  is  the  writing  of 
a  Teacher  who  is  given  the  power  to  mould  me  as  he  can ; 
—  This  is  the  writing  of  a  servant  of  the  Lord,  who  holds  a 
commission  above  all  others  :  then  can  we  understand  the 
mighty  import  of  the  words,  "  What  I  have  written  I  have 
written."  Every  thing  given  forth  as  opinion,  as  feeling-, 
as  truth,  as  example,  sinks  deeply  into  the  nature.  It  be- 
comes a  mighty  part  of  the  influences  which  are  making 
up  the  present  and  the  future  of  those  who  surround  us. 
We  are  graving  into  the  character,  we  are  stamping  upon 
the  tender  heart,  what  will  remain  there  for  blessing  or  for 
curse.  We  are  doing  our  part  towards  the  making  of  the 
generation  which  is  to  follow  us.  We  are  creating,  in  a 
certain  sense,  the  character  of  the  times.  We  are  repro- 
ducing ourselves  in  those  who  are  to  come  after  us ;  and 
they  will  carry  us  down  from  generation  to  generation, 
onward,  onward  to  the  judgment-seat  of  God.  We  may 
choose  not  to  realize  this  fearful  responsibility.  We  may 
be  unwilling  to  permit  such  a  load  of  authority  to  rest  upon 
our  feelings.  We  may  endeavor  to  laugh  it  off,  or  sneer 
it  off,  or  reason  it  off ;  but  it  will  be  in  vain.  Even  in  this 
world,  when  things  begin  to  go  wrong  with  those  over 
whom  we  have  had  authority,  —  when  the  poison  is  begin- 


32        What  I  have  written  I  have  written. 

ning  to  show  itself  in  outbreaking  corruption  in  children,  in 
servants,  among  our  companions,  in  society,  —  the  thought 
will  intrude  itself,  "  Is  this  my  writing  ?  Have  I  planted 
the  seeds  of  this  perilous  evil?  Have  my  opinions,  my 
words,  my  feelings,  my  writings,  ended  in  this  ? "  I  say, 
even  in  this  world,  such  thoughts  will  intrude ;  but  in  eter- 
nity, we  shall  find  still  more  sternly  the  unalterable  words 
of  truth,  —  "  What  I  have  written  I  have  written." 

And  that  indelibility  of  our  writings  is  the  most  terrible 
part  of  it.  We  can  impress,  but  we  cannot  cut  out.  We 
can  write,  but  we  cannot  blot  out.  We  can  shape  charac- 
ter, opinion,  feeling:  but  once  shaped,  we  have  no  more 
power  over  them.  Man's  nature  is  so  arranged,  that  even 
reason  cannot  afterwards  modify  what  has  been  engrained 
into  character ;  that  even  knowledge  cannot  scatter  the 
associations  of  childhood.  It  is  a  miserable  mistake  to  look 
at  man  as  if  he  were  a  being  governed  by  his  understand- 
ing. That  is  by  far  the  least  influential  portion  of  his  na- 
ture. He  is  governed  a  thousand  times  more  by  his  feel- 
ings, by  his  affections,  by  those  agencies  which  work  upon 
him  through  his  heart ;  and  when  these  have  been  thor- 
oughly impregnated  in  early  youth,  woe  unto  what  is  called 
reason  !  It  is  a  most  powerless  instrument,  weak  unto  death 
against  such  influences  as  passion,  as  prejudice,  as  associa- 
tion ! 

We  shall  all  have  an  account  to  give.  All  that  we  shall 
have  written  will  remain,  and  come  up  against  us.  Let  us 
therefore  consider  not  only  our  present  view  of  the  writings 
we  have  stamped  upon  man  and  society,  but  the  view  which 
we  shall  have  to  take  of  them  upon  a  dying  bed.  When 
we  shall  be  lying  there,  we  shall  feel  most  intensely  the 
power  of  those  words,  "  What  I  have  written  I  have  writ- 
ten." We  are  then  preparing  not  only  to  leave  them  behind 


What  I  have  written  I  have  written.  33 

us  as  seeds  of  good  or  of  evil,  as  impressions  which  cannot 
be  eradicated  :  bnt  we  are  preparing  to  meet  them.  They 
remain  in  the  world  for  all  time,  and  then  they  follow  after 
us  for  judgment.  What  a  terrible  moment,  —  that  moment, 
when,  lying  powerless  for  all  retrieval,  we  shall  be  obliged 
to  say,  "  What  I  have  written  I  have  written.55 


3 


•fourth  Sermon. 


And  David  longed,  and  said,  Oh  that  one  would  give  me  drink 
of  the  water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate ! — ■ 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  15. 

TT  0 W  richly  the  spiritual  evolves  itself  out  of  the  natu- 
ral !  They  dwell  together,  as  the  soul  with  the  body, 
spirit  within  matter ;  the  one  the  substance,  the  other  the 
life;  each  necessary  to  the  other,  each  harmonious  with 
the  other,  each  illustrating  the  other.  They  coexist  every- 
where ;  and  while  we  are  not  to  be  led  away  by  fanciful 
analogies  and  a  crude  sentimentalism,  a  spiritual  mind  will 
see  in  nature,  and  in  its  constitution  and  course,  manifold 
indications  of  its  capacity  for  spiritual  development  and 
spiritual  instruction.  Our  Saviour  seized  hold  of  this  ar- 
rangement, and  used  it  again  and  again  in  His  divine  teach- 
ings. He  made  the  fowls  of  the  air,  the  lilies  of  the  valley, 
the  corn  in  its  progress  from  the  blade  to  the  ear,  the 
summer  sky  in  its  play  of  light,  —  all  preachers  of  righte- 
ousness, by  bringing  out  of  their  natural  developments 
spiritual  lessons  of  the  highest  practical  value.  And  His 
Apostles  walked  in  His  footsteps  through  the  same  rich  field 
of  meditation,  and  have  made  plain  to  us  the  most  abstruse 
topics  of  life  and  immortality,  by  bringing  the  obvious  pro- 
cesses of  nature  to  the  help  of  divine  revelation.  Who  can 
see  a  grain  of  wheat  planted  in  the  earth,  and  run  in 
thought  through  its  future  phases  of  development,  without 
thinking  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  with  which  S. 
Paul  has  forever  linked  it  in  delightful  association  ?  Who 


The  Well  of  Bethlehem,  35 

can  study  the  organization  of  the  body  with  its  union  of 
comely  and  uncomely  parts,  with  its  necessary  subordina- 
tion yet  complete  harmony,  without  remembering  the  like 
adjustment  of  functions  in  the  Church  and  the  State,  — 
those  two  essentials  of  happiness  for  man,  —  with  which  the 
same  Apostle  has  indissolubly  connected  them  ?  Who  can 
guide  a  ship  with  a  rudder,  or  manage  a  horse  with  the  bit, 
without  recalling  S.  James's  spiritual  use  of  them  in  his 
denunciation  of  the  tongue '?  And  as  they  read  in  nature 
these  rich  manifestations,  and  used  them  for  public  instruc- 
tion, so  may  we,  as  we  walk  amid  the  works  and  wonders  of 
God,  see  Him  and  His  revealed  truth  in  every  thing  around 
us.  And  this  is  just  what  we  should  look  for  in  a  world 
ordered  and  arranged  by  Him  who  gave  us  His  revelation ; 
for  if  they  did  not  in  harmony  develop  the  like  truths,  how 
could  they  proceed  from  the  same  Author  ?  But  we  must 
remember,  in  our  handling  of  this  beautiful  principle,  that 
we  are  not  inspired  as  were  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  and 
that  we  have  no  authority  to  derive  from  nature  a  new  rev- 
elation. We  may  study  them  as  they  lie  infolded  together 
in  the  arrangements  of  things ;  we  may  comfort  ourselves 
with  the  clearness  which  they  unitedly  give  to  infinite 
ideas  ;  we  may  revel  in  the  glories  which  they  flash  around 
the  future,  as  the  mind  is  led  step  by  step  through  the 
gorgeous  array  of  nature's  most  precious  gifts  up  to  the 
Heaven  where  there  shall  be  no  more  curse  :  but  we  must 
follow  the  true  laws  of  logic,  and  illustrate  Xature  by  Rev- 
elation, —  the  typical  wisdom  of  God  by  the  revealed  wis- 
dom. It  is  a  beautiful  study,  if  we  are  not  fanciful ;  a  very 
dangerous  one,  if  we  keep  not  the  Word  of  God  perpetually 
in  our  hands.  Mature  is  always  true;  but  difficult  to  read, 
because  her  greatest  truths  develop  slowly,  and  mature  only 
after  long  observation  :  while  Revelation  gives  us  conclu- 
sions from  the  Divine  Mind,  which  we  can  receive  at  once  by 


36  The  Well  of  Bethlehem. 

Faith,  or  have  forced  upon  us  by  a  bitter  experience.  And 
it  often  happens  that  an  imaginative  temperament  becomes 
bewildered  by  attempting  to  rest  in  the  religion  of  Nature ; 
to  look  at  God  only  in  His  poetical  and  not  in  His  practical 
aspect ;  to  worship  Him  as  He  manifests  Himself  as  the 
Architect  and  Ruler  of  the  Universe  :  but  to  reject  His 
teachings  when  He  comes  to  separate  man's  obligations  and 
duties  from  his  wishes  and  fancies. 

How  beautifully  is  this  connection  of  the  natural  and  the 
spiritual  illustrated  in  the  longing  of  David  for  water  from 
the  well  of  Bethlehem !  Bethlehem  was  his  birthplace,  the 
home  of  his  childhood,  and  the  spot  around  which  all  his 
youthful  hopes  had  gathered.  Beside  that  well,  he  had 
played  as  a  child.  From  that  well  he  had  quenched  his 
thirst  when  heated  by  sport,  or  wearied  with  labor.  At  that 
well  he  had  watered  his  sheep  at  morning  and  evening,  sur- 
rounded by  laughing  maidens  and  joyous  youths,  when  as  yet 
his  mind  knew  no  burden  and  his  conscience  no  sin.  And 
now,  wearied  with  life  and  tired  of  struggle,  his  thoughts 
recurred  to  those  days  of  innocence,  and  to  that  well  whose 
waters  he  remembered  as  the  sweetest  he  had  ever  drank  : 
"And  David  longed,  and  said,  Oh  that  one  would  give  me 
drink  of  the  water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the 
gate  !  "  That  well  by  the  gate,  —  no  other :  for  none  had 
its  associations,  none  its  memories.  Other  water  might  be 
as  sparkling,  as  cool,  as  pure  :  but  not  for  him.  In  that 
well  alone  could  he  see  reflected,  as  in  a  panorama,  all  his 
early  life,  his  days  of  joy  and  peace.  His  heart  went  out  to 
that  spot,  and  fastened  itself  upon  it  with  a  longing  which 
nothing  else  could  satisfy. 

And  how  that  longing  for  the  past  of  our  boyhood  cleaves 
to  us  all !  As  age  creeps  upon  us,  and  we  live  in  recollec- 
tion more  than  we  do  in  hope,  how  the  heart  goes  back  to 
those  places  and  circumstances  which  became  dear  to  us  in 


The  Well  of  Bethlehem,  57 

childhood  !  We  leap  over  the  intervening  gap,  and  fasten 
our  yearning  hearts  upon  the  days  which  have  faded  into 
the  distance.  And  such  is  life,  unless  we  make  it  bright 
with  the  hopes  of  eternity.  In  youth  we  look  forward  ;  in 
age  we  look  back.  In  youth,  ardent  and  joyous,  our  hearts 
bound  onward  to  action,  as  if  we  should  surely  find  happi- 
ness there  ;  in  age,  wearied  and  jaded,  we  go  back  to  our 
wells  of  Bethlehem,  to  drink  there  and  be  at  peace.  And 
thus  life  is  frittered  away  between  anticipation  and  regret, 
because  we  have  not  learned  that  its  balance-wheel  is  in 
Religion,  —  in  re-union  with  God.  If  we  fail  to  make  that 
union,  we  find  that  neither  youth  nor  age  will  satisfy  us. 
In  the  one  we  shall  be  deluded  by  Hope;  in  the  other  we 
shall  be  cheated  by  Memory.  God  has  constituted  11?  so, 
and  we  cannot  get  rid  of  our  nature.  Without  the  living 
presence  of  God  in  the  soul,  we  cannot  be  satisfied  in  the 
present.  We  create  an  ideal  world,  when  we  are  young, 
which  we  are  ever  hoping  to  realize ;  and  when  we  are  old 
we  permit  distance  to  give  enchantment  to  the  view,  and  to 
gild  all  the  past  with  a  fictitious  glow. 

Is  life  worth  its  struggle  under  such  conditions  ?  Are  we 
willing  to  live  altogether  without  realities,  and,  like  chil- 
dren, to  be  clutching  at  the  stars  or  running  after  the  play 
of  the  light  and  the  shadow  ?  We  are  created  for  higher 
things.  We  were  never  meant  to  be  at  rest  amid  illusions, 
nor  to  spend  our  time  in  chasing  them.  A  grand  destiny  is 
ours ;  and  upon  that  it  was  designed  that  we  should  fix  our 
aims.  We  might  find  much  to  interest  us  by  the  way.  — 
much  to  love  and  much  to  enjoy.  As  we  journeyed  we  might 
pluck  the  flowers  by  the  way-side,  and  drink  from  the  wells 
of  Bethlehem;  but  God  was  to  be  ever  before  us,  as  the 
purpose  and  end  of  all  our  movements.  Those  vast  affec- 
tions with  which  God  had  endowed  us  were  not  to  be  lav- 
ished upon  shadows  ;  but  were  given  us  for  the  reproduction 


38  The  Well  of  Bethlehem. 

within  us  of  a  life  which  should  be  eternal  because  divine, 
having  its  centre  in  God,  and  its  strength  through  Christ. 
Those  grand  faculties  of  imagination,  of  hope,  of  memory, 
were  never  designed  to  waste  themselves  upon  dreams ;  but 
were  bestowed  upon  us  for  the  uses  of  life,  and  the  gaining 
of  eternity.  If  we  dwell  in  vain  conceptions  of  the  future, 
or  rest  in  false  memories  of  the  past,  we  are  equally  untrue 
to  ourselves.  We  are  not  grasping  the  divine  idea  of  man's 
existence.  We  are  drinking  water  which  will  never  quench 
our  thirst.  We  are  preparing  to  lie  down  in  disappointment 
and  sorrow. 

How  that  longing  of  the  heart  for  something  we  cannot 
attain,  breathes  of  our  divine  origin,  and  our  assured  im- 
mortality !  Why  is  it  that  our  conceptions  are  always  more 
perfect  than  our  realizations,  and  that  we  are  never  satisfied 
to  live  in  the  stern  realities  of  our  true  existence  ?  Every 
one  has  his  dream,  his  fancy,  his  hope.  Every  one  sits  pen- 
sive at  times,  and  builds  castles  in  the  air.  Every  one  has 
an  inner  life  which  no  one  reads  but  himself,  and  which 
goes  on  within  his  outer  life,  a  wheel  within  a  wheel. 
While  we  toil  and  labor,  we  are  dreaming.  While  encom- 
passed by  the  ordinary  routine  of  every-day  life,  we  are  in 
some  fairy  land  of  the  heart  or  the  imagination.  What  we 
are  obliged  to  do  in  the  way  of  labor  or  duty,  we  do  me- 
chanically in  the  sight  of  the  world,  and  let  it  see  the  prose 
of  our  existence  :  its  poetry  we  keep  for  ourselves ;  and  thus 
have  always  a  witness  within  ourselves  that  we  are  more 
than  we  seem  to  be,  are  born  of  a  higher  nature,  are  in- 
tended for  a  sublimer  sphere.  And  as  these  dreams  are 
successively  scattered  by  the  experience  of  life,  —  if  we  have 
not  found  God  in  Christ,  and  taken  that  Keality  home  to 
us,  —  we  turn  to  the  past,  and  long  with  David  :  "  Oh  that 
one  would  give  me  drink  of  the  water  of  the  well  of  Beth- 
lehem, which  is  by  the  gate  !  " 


The  Well  of  Bethlehem. 


39 


But  there  is  a  much  deeper  meaning  in  that  wish  of 
David  than  is  contained  in  the  train  of  thought  which  I 
have  been  pursuing.  David  was  a  prophet,  and  saw  in  his 
spirit  the  fulfillment  of  that  prediction  of  Micah,  then  not 
as  yet  even  uttered,  "  But  thou,  Bethlehem  Ephratah, 
though  thou  be  little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet 
out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be  ruler 
in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from 
everlasting."  1  And  God's  Spirit,  as  he  lay  there,  old,  faint 
and  wearied,  showed  him  in  vision  that  Fountain  opened  for 
sin  and  for  uncleanness  in  the  house  of  David,  and  made 
him  to  hear  that  Voice  which  declared  to  the  woman  of 
Samaria :  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst 
again:  but.  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  ever- 
lasting life." 2  And  this  water  was  typified  by  the  well  of 
Bethlehem.  And  while  the  Psalmist's  body  longed  for  the 
water  in  the  well  by  the  gate,  and  his  mind  clustered  all  its 
rich  memories  and  associations  around  it :  his  spirit  was 
longing  for  a  draught  of  that  divine  Love  which  should 
quench  all  the  desires  of  the  unsatisfied  heart.  Even  as 
Job,  in  his  misery,  cried  out  for  a  Mediator  long  before  He 
had  come,  saying,  "  Oh  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find 
him  !  that  I  might  come  even  to  his  seat  !  "  3  so  did 
David,  in  the  solitariness  of  his  spirit,  cry  out  for  water 
from  that  Well  which  yet  lay  hidden  from  the  knowledge 
of  man.  His  lips,  his  affections,  his  soul,  all  longed  for 
water  from  that  Well  of  Bethlehem,  —  true  foreshadowing 
of  the  unquenched  thirst  which  still  haunts  the  children 
of  men. 

How  often  man  longs  secretly  for  spiritual  water  from 
this  Well  of  Bethlehem,  and  lets  his  want  die  unknown 
i  Micah  v.  2.  2  g,  John  iv.  13,  14.  3  Job  xxiii.  3. 


40  The  Well  of  Bethlehem. 

within  him  !  He  sighs  for  something  he  has  never  had  : 
and  he  offctimes  knows  not  what  it  is.  It  is  a  craving  at 
the  heart  for  something  that  will  fill  his  desires :  and  he 
cannot  find  it.  He  supposes  it  to  arise  from  some  crook  in 
his  lot,  from  some  disease  of  temperament,  from  some  ill 
discipline  of  his  character :  when,  all  the  while,  it  has  its 
origin  in  the  soul,  of  which  he  has  taken  no  account. 
Body  and  mind  are  all  he  has  been  accustomed  to  consider ; 
and  when  he  can  find  no  remedy  for  his  longing  in  any 
change  he  can  administer  to  them,  he  thinks  his  case  to  he 
hopeless.  His  philosophy  is  as  much  at  fault  as  his  religion. 
He  has  left  out  of  his  calculation  the  highest  constituent 
of  his  heing :  and  yet  hopes  to  he  satisfied.  When  he  has 
furnished  food  for  his  hody,  and  literary  or  scientific  nourish- 
ment for  his  mind,  and  ohjects  of  an  earthly  kind  for  his 
affections,  he  thinks  that  he  has  done  every  thing  which  he 
can  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  nature :  and  yet  he,  an  im- 
mortal creature,  has  left  hoth  God  and  his  soul  without  any 
consideration.  He  has  made  no  provision  forever  for  that 
part  of  his  nature  which  is  its  living  part.  For  that  which 
is  corruptible  and  dying,  he  has  exhausted  luxury  and  pushed 
science  to  its  utmost  verge  of  development :  but  that  which 
is  incorruptible  and  undying,  which  is  the  breath  of  the  Al- 
mighty, which  is  to  expand  in  greatness  through  eternal 
ages,  is  left,  without  any  spiritual  food,  to  pine  and  perish 
from  utter  inanition.  And  yet  the  man  who  does  this,  won- 
ders that  there  is  some  unsatisfied  longing  in  the  heart, 
some  inward  burning  wish  for  "  water  of  the  well "  of  some 
Bethlehem,  that  might  revive  his  hopes.  Why,  my  beloved 
hearer,  it  is  your  soul  longing  for  God ;  craving  to  be  united 
once  again  to  the  Eternal  Being  from  whom  it  sprang; 
forcing  upon  you,  if  peradventure  you  may  understand,  its 
claims  to  your  notice,  its  influence  upon  your  happiness  for 
time  as  well  as  for  eternity.    May  you  listen  to  it ;  may  you 


The  Well  of  Bethlehem.  41 

recognize  the  voice  of  the  Divinity  speaking"  within  you; 
may  you  learn,  ere  it  be  too  late,  at  what  fountain  its  thirst 
may  be  quenched,  and  its  guilt  washed  out ;  and  may  your 
feelings  find  utterance  in  the  burning  words  of  David  :  "  Oh 
that  one  would  give  me  drink  of  the  water  of  the  well  of 
Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate !  " 

You  can  satisfy  your  longing,  my  immortal  fellow-crea- 
ture, at  no  other  fountain  than  this  of  Bethlehem.  It  is 
God's  Holy  Spirit  that  is  causing  you  to  feel  that  longing 
for  something  higher  and  holier  than  you  have  yet  attained ; 
and  it  is  God's  Son  giving  you  to  drink  of  the  Water  of 
Life  which  alone  can  satisfy  your  soul.  Unless  you  can 
procure  water  from  that  Well,  you  must  perish  in  your  un- 
satisfied condition.  Nothing  but  the  Spirit  of  God  can 
quench  the  thirst  of  the  spirit  of  man.  And  thanks  be  to 
the  grace  and  mercy  of  God,  that  Water  is  offered  to  every 
thirsty  creature ;  and  gushes  a  free,  rich,  abundant  stream 
of  love  and  peace.  When  David  uttered  this  wish,  the  well 
of  Bethlehem  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  his  ene- 
mies ;  and  his  valiant  men  of  war  were  forced  to  risk  their 
lives  to  fulfill  his  desire.  But  this  Well-spring  of  Christ, 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life,  can  be  approached  with- 
out fear  and  without  hindraDce.  Christ  has  conquered  all 
the  enemies  who  made  it  unapproachable ;  and  every  one, 
—  the  poorest,  and  the  meanest,  and  the  most  degraded, 
and  the  most  sinful  —  can  come  and  drink  of  it,  and  be  at 
peace.  Come  all  ye  that  are  thirsty,  all  ye  that  are  weary, 
all  ye  that  would  know  God,  all  ye  that  would  fulfill  the 
purpose  of  God  in  your  creation :  and  drink,  and  go  your 
way  rejoicing ! 

And  do  not  we,  my  fellow-Christians,  who  have  drank  of 
the  water  of  that  Well  of  Bethlehem,  often  utter  in  our 
moments  of  spiritual  declension  :  "  Oh  that  one  would  give 
me  to  drink  of  the  water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  which 


42  The  Well  of  Bethlehem. 

is  by  the  gate  !  "  In  the  early  years  of  our  Christian  expe- 
rience, we  were  wont  to  go  daily  to  that  Well  for  refresh- 
ment. Whenever  joyous,  we  went  there  and  found  our 
loved  companions  happy  in  its  satisfying  waters.  Whenever 
wearied,  we  went  there  and  found  our  fainting  fellow-pil- 
grims reviving  under  its  influence.  Morning  and  evening 
we  carried  there  all  our  cares,  and  all  our  burdens;  and 
they  lost  their  weight  when  we  had  drank  its  strength- 
ening waters.  It  was  the  resort  we  loved  most ;  and  oh, 
how  pleasant  were  those  days  of  our  early  love,  —  how  full 
of  innocence  and  peace !  But,  like  David,  we  have  been 
separated,  perhaps,  from  the  water  of  that  Well,  first  by  our 
own  sins,  and  then  by  the  powerful  enemies  who  seem  to 
stand  between  us  and  its  waters.  The  battle  of  life  has 
carried  us  away  from  it.  The  cares,  the  anxieties,  the  col- 
lisions of  the  world,  have  changed  the  Christian  into  the 
man  of  war,  or  the  man  of  many  cares  :  and  now,  wearied 
and  battered,  our  hearts  turn  in  earnest  longing  to  our  first 
Christian  love,  to  our  haunts  by  that  blessed  Fountain,  to 
the  refreshing  and  comforting  draughts  we  have  quaffed 
from  its  waters,  and  the  wish  comes  back  to  us,  "  Oh  that 
one  would  give  me  drink  of  the  water  of  the  well  of  Beth- 
lehem, which  is  by  the  gate  !  "  And  why,  my  fellow-Chris- 
tian, should  you  wish  in  vain?  Like  David  you  may  be 
hedged  about  for  the  moment.  Lions  may  seem  to  lie 
crouching  between  you  and  the  object  of  your  wish.  En- 
emies may  look  fierce  upon  you,  and  threaten  you  if  you 
dare  to  approach  it.  But  fear  not !  David's  wish  procured 
it  for  him,  through  all  these  hindrances ;  and  your  prayers 
will  obtain  it  for  you,  if  you  will  cry  to  God  in  earnest. 
"  Fear  not,  0  Jacob,  my  servant,"  is  His  language  through 
the  Prophet  Isaiah,  "  and  thou,  Jesurun,  whom  I  have 
chosen.  For  I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty, 
and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground."  1    All  that  He  requires  is 

i  Isaiah  xliv.  2,  3. 


The  Well  of  Bethlehem. 


43 


that  you  bring  with,  you  a  contrite  spirit  and  a  longing 
heart,  —  a  soul  lamenting  its  departure  from  God,  and 
craving  for  the  water  of  the  Well  of  Bethlehem.  If  you 
will  act  in  the  spirit  of  the  backsliding  children  of  Israel, 
and  say,  "  Come,  and  let  us  return  unto  the  Loed  :  for  he 
hath  torn,  and  he  will  heal  us  •  he  hath  smitten,  and  he 
will  bind  us  up.  After  two  days  will  he  revive  us  :  in  the 
third  day  he  will  raise  us  up,  and  we  shall  live  in  his  sight. 
Then  shall  we  know,  if  we  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord  :  his 
going  forth  is  prepared  as  the  morning ;  and  he  shall  come 
unto  us  as  the  rain,  as  the  latter  and  the  former  rain  unto 
the  earth."  1 

1  Hosea  vi.  1-3. 


tftftlj  pennon. 


For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ :  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth  ;  to  the  Jew 
first,  and  also  to  the  Greek.  —  Romans  i.  16. 

TT  required  two  of  the  most  elaborate  chapters  of  Gib- 
I) on's  gorgeous  work  to  display  the  grandeur  and  mag- 
nificence of  the  Roman  Empire  under  Augustus  and  his 
immediate  successors.  With  all  that  we  may  have  seen  of 
modern  luxury,  and  all  that  we  may  have  imagined  of  con- 
centrated power,  we  find  it  difficult  to  grasp  the  conception 
which  he  there  labors  to  embody,  —  the  conception  of 
the  whole  civilized  world  united  under  a  great  military 
despotism,  with  Rome  as  its  heart,  from  which  went  forth 
the  irresistible  decrees  of  power,  and  to  which  flowed 
back,  through  innumerable,  well-ordered  channels,  all  that 
wealth  and  luxury  and  art  could  furnish  for  its  adornment 
and  glory.  The  world  has  never  since  seen  so  imperial  a 
city ;  and  pilgrims  innumerable  still  wander  there  to  muse 
amid  its  unrivalled  ruins,  and  dream  of  the  greatness  of 
the  past.  It  combined  every  thing  which  could  win  for  it 
veneration  among  its  dependent  provinces,  which  would 
make  them  look  with  awe  upon  even  its  fashions  and  opin- 
ions. It  had  the  prestige  of  conquest,  —  nation  after  na- 
tion, the  most  powerful  and  the  most  distant,  having  passed 
under  its  yoke,  and  confessed  its  dominion.  It  was  envel- 
oped in  that  illusion  which  pomp  and  show  cast  around 
their  presence,  especially  when  they  surround  the  palaces 
of  a  successful  monarch  and  a  time-honored  nobility.  It 


Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel.  45 

was  the  focus  of  literature  and  of  art,  the  point  whither 
every  thing  tended  which  might  minister  to  the  senses  or 
the  tastes  of  men.  Rome  was  the  Empire  :  every  thing  out- 
side of  its  walls  was  provincial.  To  be  great  at  Eome  was 
to  be  great  at  the  remotest  extremities  of  the  world  :  to 
meet  the  contempt  of  Rome  was  to  ensure  the  contempt  of 
all  that  depended  upon  her.  Her  smile  was  power ;  her 
approbation  was  influence  ;  her  condemnation  withered  the 
hopes  of  statesmen,  of  orators,  of  poets,  of  philosophers. 
To  go  up  to  Rome  from  the  provinces  and  face  its  opinion, 
—  to  plunge  into  that  roaring  vortex  of  the  wise,  the 
thoughtful,  the  educated,  the  luxurious,  the  powerful,  and 
promulge  a  new  and  unheard-of  doctrine,  —  demanded  not 
only  a  mighty  confidence  of  Truth,  but  a  physical  nerve 
over  and  above  the  Truth.  It  was  like  casting  a  die  for 
reputation  and  for  life.  If  it  succeeded,  it  ensured  popu- 
larity and  power.  If  it  failed,  it  brought  down  unmeasured 
ridicule,  and  perhaps  personal  destruction. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  when  S.  Paul  was  contemplating 
a  visit  to  Rome,  —  was  about  to  preach  the  novel  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  this  seat  of  power  and  of 
sensuality,  —  he  should  have  prepared  his  heart  for  the 
struggle,  and  that  some  glimpses  of  hat  preparation 
should  manifest  themselves  in  passages  of  the  Epistle 
which  he  wrote  to  the  Christians  in  that  place  before  he 
had  ever  visited  them.  It  is  one  of  these  glimpses  which 
furnishes  the  text  for  my  sermon,  —  one  which  draws  from 
him  the  remarkable  disclaimer  of  being  ashamed  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  Having  been  hindered  again  and  again, 
by  providential  circumstances,  in  his  intention  of  visiting 
Rome,  he  seems  to  have  feared  that  the  Christians  there 
might  suppose  that  he  was  kept  away  from  shame  ;  that  he 
was  unwilling  to  proclaim  the  new  and  despised  doctrines 
of  the  Cross  in  that  centre  of  Roman  influence. 


46  Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel. 

"  Now  I  would  not  have  you  ignorant,  brethren,"  is  the 
language  of  his  explanation,  "  that  oftentimes  I  purposed 
to  come  unto  you  (but  was  let  hitherto),  that  I  might  have 
some  fruit  among  you  also,  even  as  among  other  Gentiles. 
I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks,  and  to  the  Barbarians ; 
both  to  the  wise,  and  to  the  unwise.  So,  as  much  as  in  me 
is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  you  that  are  at 
Rome  also.  For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ :  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every 
one  that  believeth ;  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the 
Greek." 1  It  was  not  the  ridicule  which  it  might  cost  him 
that  hindered  his  coming.  It  was  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
had  not  yet  opened  the  way  for  him,  —  that  way  which 
afterwards  carried  him  there  a  prisoner  and  an  appellant 
to  the  throne  of  the  Caesars. 

How  little  the  world  understands  the  difficulty  which 
there  is  in  preaching  the  Gospel !  —  the  struggle  which 
the  human  heart  undergoes  in  setting  forth  publicly  and 
faithfully  those  revealed  truths  which  constitute  what  the 
Scripture  calls  "  the  foolishness  of  preaching."  It  is  easy 
enough  to  be  a  philosopher  or  an  essayist.  S.  Paul  would 
have  found  no  cause  for  shame  or  contempt  in  announcing 
from  Mars5  Hill  at  Athens,  or  from  the  tribune  at  Rome, 
some  novel  or  eclectic  scheme  of  philosophy,  —  in  uttering 
any  piece  of  human  conception,  however  wild  or  fanciful. 
Man  will  listen  patiently  to  man's  inventions.  He  will 
weigh  and  consider  the  arguments  and  reasonings  of  his 
fellow-creature,  so  long  as  there  is  any  show  of  reason, 
and  even  when  there  is  none.  But  when  you  leave  the 
sphere  of  intellect,  and  attempt  to  take  him  into  that  of 
Revelation,  he  mocks.  And  it  is  not  only  the  hearer  who 
rebels  against  spiritual  truth ;  it  is  the  preacher  himself 
who  feels  the  temptation  strong  upon  him  to  avoid  the 

i  Rom.  i.  13-16. 


Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel.  47 

Cross  of  Christ,  and  to  dwell  upon  the  evidences  of  Ee- 
ligion,  where  he  may  reason  ;  or  the  morals  of  Christ, 
which  the  common  sense  of  mankind  in  a  manner  ap- 
proves ;  or  the  practice  of  life,  which  comes  home  to  one's 
every-day  feelings  and  occupations.  In  these  days  of  al- 
most universal  Christianity,  when  the  Church  of  Christ  is 
a  power  in  the  earth,  and  the  Ministers  of  the  Church  are 
respected  and  esteemed,  the  question  which  suggests  itself 
to  most  minds  upon  hearing  my  text  announced,  is :  "  Why 
should  Paul  have  been  ashamed  to  preach  the  Gospel  any- 
where? What  is  there  in  such  glorious  truth  that  any 
man  should  shun  to  declare  it  to  all  the  world  P  "  And 
when  the  answer  is  returned,  that  it  was  a  novelty  in  the 
world  ;  that  it  was  contrary  to  all  the  received  philosophy 
of  the  times ;  that  it  was  exclusive  and  aggressive :  such 
answers  are  deemed  to  be  sufficient.  As  if  there  was  any 
more  temptation  to  be  ashamed  then,  than  there  is  now ; 
as  if  the  doctrines  of  the  Cross  have  ceased  to  be  an 
offence  5  as  if  it  is  not  just  as  unpalatable  now-a-days  to 
be  dependent  upon  the  grace  of  God  and  the  mercy  of 
Christ  for  salvation  as  it  ever  was  !  No,  my  hearer.  The 
answer  to  that  question  lies  much  deeper,  —  stretches 
down  into  the  unbelief  of  the  natural  heart,  and  finds  its 
solution  there.  What  tempted  S.  Paul  to  be  ashamed  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  what  tempts  me  as  his  successor, 
and  you  as  a  Christian,  to  be  ashamed  of  that  same  Gos- 
pel, is  the  natural  antagonism  which  there  is  in  fallen 
human  nature  to  any  thing  which  comes  from  God  in 
Christ.  It  is  not  a  thing  to  be  reasoned  about ;  contro- 
versy can  make  it  no  plainer,  nor  any  the  more  intelli- 
gible. The  Scripture  declaration  that  "  the  carnal  mind  " 
—  that  is,  the  heart  which  is  born  with  a  man  before  the 
renewal  of  the  Holy  Ghost  —  "  is  enmity  against  God,"  1 

1  Rom.  viii.  7. 


48  Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel. 

covers  the  whole  ground.  Sin  has  made  it  so :  and  sin 
keeps  it  so,  until  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  subdues  that 
sin,  and  gives  Christ  the  dominion  !  It  is  a  thing  that  you 
all  feel  and  know,  —  not  that  you  hate  God,  for  that  none 
of  you  would  admit :  but  that  you  despise,  so  long  as  you 
are  unconverted,  what  is  called  "  doctrinal  preaching  "  —  a 
dwelling  upon  the  Atonement,  and  upon  Regeneration,  and 
upon  Justification,  and  upon  Blood  as  the  great  cleanser 
and  purifier  of  the  nature.  And  if  you  despise  these  doc- 
trines, what  are  they  but  the  Gospel  ?  What  are  they  but 
the  very  topics  which  are  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  ? 
You  complain  that  you  cannot  understand  them ;  that  they 
are  unintelligible  (the  very  thing  which  the  Apostle  tells 
us  you  would  say)  ;  that  they  are  foolishness  (the  very 
words  of  the  Apostle  again) :  and  if  they  are  pressed,  — 
why,  then  the  preacher  is  "  a  fool  "  :  or  if  his  standing  be 
too  high  for  that,  "  a  fanatic."  And  when  we  who  preach 
the  Gospel  know  all  this,  is  there  no  temptation  to  be 
ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ?  —  no  allurement  to  pass 
over  these  great  and  saving  truths,  and  win  your  admira- 
tion by  rhetoric  and  philosophy  ?  There  is  enormous  temp- 
tation :  for,  besides  the  crucifixion  which  it  really  is  to  our- 
selves to  force  upon  unwilling  ears  ungracious  topics,  there 
are  plausible  arguments  enough  to  be  found  why  we  should 
offer  you  other  themes,  and  dwell  more  upon  the  duties  of 
life  than  on  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 

But  while  there  is  this  temptation  to  preach  morals 
rather  than  doctrine,  philosophy  rather  than  Christianity, 
we  must  nerve  ourselves,  as  faithful  Ministers  of  the  Word, 
against  this  shame  ;  because  this  very  Gospel  "  is  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth."  It  is 
all  in  Christianity  that  has  any  power.  The  rest  of  the 
system  has  no  more  power  than  any  other  scheme  of  morals 
or  philosophy.    What  power,  for  example,  had  the  philoso- 


Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel.  49 

phy  of  Socrates  over  his  age  and  nation  ?  I  do  not  ask  you 
what  intellectual  force  it  had,  but  what  'power  had  it  in  re- 
straining individuals  or  in  leavening  the  mass,  in  even  those 
things  which  related  to  the  conduct  of  this  life  ?  And 
surely  it  could  have  none  upon  the  salvation  of  the  soul, 
when  it  left  his  most  accomplished  disciples  doubtful  about 
even  that  soul's  immortality  !  And  what  power  had  the 
ethical  philosophy  of  Cicero  over  his  times  ?  The  moral 
philosophers  of  Rome  were  very  remarkable  men  in  their 
way,  —  unfolded  the  topics  which  they  handled  with  great 
clearness  and  completeness  ;  and  yet  what  power  had  they? 
Just  none  at  all :  and  their  compatriots  went  plunging  on 
in  sensuality  and  lust,  until  Rome  presented  such  a  picture 
at  the  incoming  of  Christianity  as  man  has  never  seen 
since,  as  the  normal  condition  of  his  race.  Well,  if  Chris- 
tianity had  not  conjoined  with  it  this  power  of  God  unto  sal- 
vation, its  morals,  and  what  might  be  called  its  philosophy, 
should  have  no  more  influence  in  leavening  the  world  than 
that  of  antiquity.  What  man  needs  is  not  advice,  is  not 
instruction  in  mere  worldly  duty,  is  not  a  constant  lectur- 
ing upon  what  he  ought  to  do,  or  what  he  ought  not  to 
do  :  but  it  is  power  to  operate  upon  the  will,  to  make  it 
desire  to  do  right ;  and  then  power  to  enable  it  to  do  right. 
It  would  be  very  idle  for  me  to  employ  myself  twice  every 
Lord's  day  in  telling  such  a  congregation  as  you  are, 
about  the  duties  of  life.  You  know  them  quite  as  well 
as  I  do ;  and  if  that  was  all  of  Christianity,  I  should  be 
very  glad  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  many  of  you,  and  listen 
to  your  instructions.  But  when  the  pulpit  is  fulfilling 
its  true  design,  —  is  calling  you  to  repentance  for  sins 
against  God  of  which  you  are  not  conscious,  and  to  faith 
in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  may  receive  power  from 
on  high  to  subdue  sin,  —  then  it  assumes  a  very  different 
aspect.  It  becomes  then  a  very  distinct  instrument  for 
4 


5<d  Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel. 

spiritual  good,  and  can  be  wielded  only  by  those  who  have 
been  taught  of  God  what  is  His  wisdom  and  His  will !  If 
under  this  view  of  things  you  were  to  assume  to  become  a 
public  teacher,  I  could  no  longer  listen  with  patience  to 
your  cold  disputations  upon  morals  and  duties.  I  should 
have  to  say  to  you,  as  our  Saviour  said  to  Mcodeinus  when 
he  could  not  comprehend  one  of  the  leading  doctrines  of 
Christianity  :  "  Art  thou  a  master  of  Israel,  and  knowest 
not  these  things  P  "  That  is  the  difference  !  Any  one  of 
you  who  is  a  man  of  good  morals  and  high  social  character 
might  be  a  preacher  of  Christianity,  if  instruction  in  mor- 
als were  all  that  it  required :  but  when  it  embraces  what  S. 
Paul  calls  "  the  Gospel  of  Christ,"  and  concerns  itself  about 
the  salvation  of  the  soul,  it  requires  other  elements  of 
knowledge  than  are  possessed  by  a  moralist ;  elements  of 
knowledge  attained  not  through  the  head,  but  through  the 
heart ;  coming  not  from  any  thing  which  man  teacheth, 
but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth. 

This  was  the  reason  why  S.  Paul  was  not  ashamed  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  because  it  was  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion !  God  had  appointed  it  so.  He  that  commissioned 
him  had  so  arranged  it.  "  For  Christ  sent  me  not  to  bap- 
tize," writes  he  to  the  Corinthians,  "  but  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel :  not  with  wisdom  of  words,  lest  the  Cross  of  Christ 
should  be  made  of  none  effect.  For  the  preaching  of  the 
Cross  is  to  them  that  perish  foolishness ;  but  unto  us  which 
are  saved  it  is  the  power  of  God."  1  He  needed  no  other 
reason  than  this  ;  and  when  men  cavilled  at  it  and  despised 
it,  his  answer  was  :  "  For  after  that  in  the  wisdom  of  God 
the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by 
the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe."  2 
When  they  attempted  to  argue  against  it,  to  prove  that 
there  could  be  no  power  in  such  foolish  doctrines  to  affect 

1 1  Cor.  i.  17,  18.  2  Ibid.  21. 


Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel. 


5i 


the  world,  his  reply  still  was  :  "  But  God  liath  chosen  the 
foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise ;  and  God 
hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
things  which  are  mighty ;  and  base  things  of  the  world, 
and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and 
things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to  naught  things  that  are  : 
that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence."  "What  more 
could  be  said  ?  What  further  argument  could  be  advanced 
against  a  man  making  such  assertions  ?  He  was  not 
ashamed  of  the  Gospel,  and  could  not  be  made  ashamed  of 
it,  because  it  was  the  power  of  God ;  and  the  very  weak- 
nesses alleged  against  it  were  met  by  the  declaration  that 
they  were  made  so  of  set  purpose,  to  confound  the  wisdom 
and  the  glory  of  man.  Believing  this,  —  and  every  man 
who  has  experienced  the  converting  grace  of  the  Gospel 
must  believe  it,  —  what  can  make  him  ashamed  ?  He  is 
God's  messenger,  and  is  wielding  not  his  own  power  but 
the  power  of  God  :  is  contending  with  man,  not  upon  an 
equal  platform  of  intellect  against  intellect ;  but  with  an 
unknown  and  unreckoned  influence,  against  the  feelings 
and  the  affections. 

And  it  is  just  that  unreckoned  influence  which  gives 
Christianity  all  its  vitality.  That  unreckoned  influence  — 
that  influence  which  man  does  not  recognize  —  is  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  He  will  not  honor  any  teaching  with  His  pres- 
ence and  power,  except  the  teaching  which  holds  up  and 
dignifies  the  Cross  of  Christ.  And  this  is  the  way  in  which 
the  power  of  God  manifests  itself  in  the  salvation  of  the 
soul.  While  "  godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  hav- 
ing promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to 
come,"  1  its  great  purpose  is  to  save  the  soul.  "  This  is  a 
faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  2  The  soul,  the 

1  1  Tim.  ir.  8.  2  Ibid.  i.  15. 


C2  Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel. 

sonl  it  was,  that  brought  Christ  down  from  Heaven,  —  that 
"  vital  spark  of  heavenly  flame "  which  is  undying.  He 
came  not  to  teach  morals  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  paltry 
years  that  we  spend  upon  the  earth,  but  to  prepare  the  soul 
for  reunion  with  that  God  from  whom  sin  had  violently 
separated  it !  For  this  end,  he  gave  Himself  a  sacrifice  for 
sin.  For  this  end,  He  put  Himself  in  the  place  of  man. 
For  this  end,  He  bore  upon  Himself  the  full  penalty  of  sin. 
For  this  end,  He  shed  His  precious  Blood,  and  made  peace 
between  God  and  man.  And  when  He  had  done  all  this, 
and  made  the  Atonement,  then  was  the  power  which  was  to 
give  the  Gospel  its  spiritual  life  sent  down  from  Heaven  ! 
And  when  we  look  into  the  history  of  Christianity,  we  see 
at  once  what  is  the  meaning  and  force  of  this  word,  —  u  the 
power  of  God." 

Were  the  Apostles  wiser  than  our  Lord?  Were  they 
more  eloquent  than  He  who  spake  as  never  man  spake  ? 
Could  they  do  more  miracles  than  He  did  ?  And  yet  their 
first  sermon  converted  some  three  thousand  souls,  while 
the  whole  life  and  conversation  and  miracles  of  Jesus  at- 
tached to  Him  but  a  very  small  band  of  timid  and  hesitating 
disciples !  How  was  this  ?  How  do  those  who  would  take 
away  from  Christianity  the  doctrines  of  the  Cross,  explain 
this  ?  It  has  no  explanation  but  that  which  the  Scriptures 
themselves  give,  —  that  these  very  doctrines  are  those 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  applies  and  makes  operative  upon 
the  heart  of  the  creature.  And  this  is  in  direct  fulfill- 
ment of  the  promise  of  our  Saviour :  "  Howbeit  when  he 
the  Spirit  of  Truth  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all 
truth  :  for  he  shall  not  speak  of  himself.  ....  He  shall 
glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  shew  it 
unto  you." 1  And  how  shall  He  glorify  Christ  ?  By  mak- 
ing His  Cross,  His  Blood,  His  Atonement,  the  power  of  the 

i  S.  John  xvi.  13,  14. 


Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel. 


53 


Gospel !  By  giving  His  work  the  glory  of  salvation.  By 
proving  to  the  world  that  there  is  none  other  Name  under 
heaven  given  among  men,  in  whom,  and  through  whom, 
they  may  receive  salvation,  hut  only  the  Name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  By  finally  bringing  every  knee  to  bow  before 
the  Name  of  Jesus,  and  making  every  tongue  confess  that 
He  is  Lokd,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  By  gather- 
ing together  that  great  crowd  of  the  elect,  who  are  to  make 
Heaven  resound  forever  with  the  new  song  of  the  redeemed  : 
"  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power,  be  unto  him 
that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever 
and  ever." 

How  idle  is  it,  then,  where  the  soul's  salvation  is  con- 
cerned, to  hope  to  do  any  good  except  through  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  !  We  may  not  expect  to  have  the  power 
of  God  with  us,  unless  we  make  that  the  substance  of  our 
instructions.  We  may  have  the  approbation  and  admi- 
ration of  men,  but  we  cannot  look  for  the  presence  of  the 
Spirit  unless  we  glorify  Christ,  and  make  His  name  honor- 
able. "  Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  words, 
of  him  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  ashamed,  when  he  shall 
come  in  his  own  glory,  and  in  his  Father's,  and  of  the  holy 
angels."  And  if  our  Lord  will  be  ashamed  of  those  in  the 
last  day  who  are  ashamed  of  His  Cross  now,  think  you  that 
He  will  honor  them  with  His  presence  in  the  Church  upon 
earth  ?  No  !  A  Ministry  which  hides  from  the  people  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel  because  they  are  unpalatable  or  un- 
intelligible, will  have  the  light  of  God's  countenance  hid 
from  it,  —  will  be  shorn  of  all  power  for  the  salvation  of  the 
soul !  And  in  like  manner  with  the  private  Christian.  He 
will  find,  in  his  own  experience,  that  he  has  no  power 
against  the  enemies  of  his  soul,  save  in  so  far  as  he  may  be 
living  upon  the  Gospel.  He  will  learn,  perchance  through 
a  sad  experience,  that  his  profession  will  not  stand  tempta- 


54  Not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel. 

tion  and  seduction  and  the  days  of  darkness,  unless  it  rest 
upon  the  corner-stone  of  the  Atonement.  He  may  be  well 
learned  in  all  those  things  which  make  a  Christian  scholar 
and  a  moral  philosopher,  and  yet  be  weak  as  a  child  when 
he  comes  to  grapple  with  the  great  enemies  of  the  soul, 
unless  he  be  washed  in  the  Blood  of  Christ,  and  sanctified 
and  purified  there.  The  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God ;  and 
nothing  else !  All  the  rest  is  the  power  of  man.  And  the 
power  of  man  is  nothing  against  the  power  of  the  Devil ! 
It  fades  away  before  his  wiles,  as  the  morning  dew  before 
the  heat  of  the  sun.  It  requires  the  power  of  God  in 
Christ  to  conflict  with  the  enemies  of  the  soul !  Therefore 
is  it  that  the  work  of  the  Ministry  is,  to  lead  the  soul  away 
from  itself,  to  the  power  of  God  ;  to  teach  it  where  it  shall 
find  true  strength  for  the  day  of  trial,  and  salvation  in  the 
day  of  Christ's  Judgment. 


^>irtl)  pennon 


He  calleth  to  me  out  of  Seir,  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ? 
Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?  The  watchman  said,  The  morn- 
ing cometh,  and  also  the  night :  if  ye  will  inquire,  inquire  ye :  re- 
turn, come. —  Isaiah  xxi.  n,  12. 

11  /TETHINKS  it  would  strike  a  thoughtful  man,  when 
his  mind  rested  upon  Christianity,  for  how  long  God 
had  been  answering,  through  His  commissioned  watch- 
men, the  question  of  our  text.  If  the  religion  which  speaks 
from  the  Word  of  God  was  a  thing  of  yesterday,  a  man 
might  reasonably  put  it  aside  as  unworthy  of  much  consid- 
eration. But  when,  however  far  back  he  may  pierce  into 
the  depths  of  antiquity,  he  shall  find  the  watchman  stand- 
ing upon  the  walls  of  Zion,  and  replying  to  the  anxious 
question  of  bewildered  reason,  he  may  well  pause  and  pon- 
der over  the  startling  fact.  If  he  could  get  rid  of  it  by 
running  it  up  through  a  few  years,  or  even  a  few  centuries, 
until  it  was  lost  in  obscurity,  he  might  plausibly  say,  that 
God  would  not  have  delayed  so  long  a  Revelation  which 
was  meant  for  the  world. 

But  the  unbeliever  has  no  such  refuge  as  this.  If  he  be 
honest  and  true,  he  will  find  Revelation  cleaving  to  him 
through  all  the  changes  of  the  world's  history,  exhibiting 
its  landmarks  wherever  his  researches  may  lead  him,  with 
a  faithful  watchman  for  every  age,  with  an  earnest  invita- 
tion for  every  period  since  the  Creation.  Christianity  is 
not  like  the  false  religions  of  the  earth,  whose  origin  and 
whose  authors  can  be  fixed  in  the  mid  ages  of  the  world : 


56  Watchman,  what  of  the  Night? 

but  already  have  eighteen  hundred  years  rolled  away  since 
it  received  its  fullest  development,  and  was  unfolded  in 
perfectness  to  man.  That  period,  when  we  have  reached 
it,  is  called  "  the  fullness  of  times,"  —  "  the  latter  days." 
From  that  point  we  ascend  four  hundred  years,  beyond  the 
time  of  the  Macedonian  conqueror :  and  the  Scriptures 
which  enfolded  all  the  promise  and  prophecy  of  the  Old 
Dispensation  are  closed  and  sealed,  waiting  in  silence  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah.  Even  at  that  remote  period 
enough  had  been  said  by  the  watchman  to  satisfy  the 
questions  of  man,  and  to  close  up  and  seal  the  prophecy. 
And  if  we  open  that  volume,  what  a  vista  spreads  away  be- 
fore us,  carrying  us  up  beyond  Babylon  and  Nineveh  and 
Troy,  and  the  fabled  Argonauts  :  while  yet  Isaiah,  and 
David,  and  Samuel,  and  Joshua,  were  uttering  immortal 
truth,  and  looking  with  bright-eyed  hope  for  the  coming 
Redeemer.  And  when  we  pass  beyond  any  thing  which 
even  human  monuments  can  tell  us,  though  dug  from  their 
sepulchre  of  ages,  we  still  meet  Moses,  and  Job,  and 
Abraham,  and  Noah,  and  the  men  before  the  Flood,  rest- 
ing upon  the  promises  of  that  Christ  whom  we  worship 
to-day.  Unbelief,  if  it  travel  the  path  of  history,  will  be 
sorely  harassed.  It  will  meet  its  enemy  at  every  point. 
If  it  take  Christianity  upon  its  own  hypothesis,  —  that  it  is 
the  flower  of  which  Judaism  was  the  bud,  —  it  will  find  a 
watchman  wherever  it  turns,  who  will  cry  to  it :  "  The 
morning  cometh,  and  also  the  night ;  if  ye  will  inquire,  in- 
quire ye  :  return,  come." 

And  should  not  this  arrest  any  man  of  reason  ?  Should 
he  not  pause  until  he  has  satisfied  himself  about  this 
unique  phenomenon?  Before  he  can  rationally  pass  on 
with  indifference,  he  must  account  for  the  origin,  the 
growth,  the  permanence  of  this  persistent  scheme  ;  he 
must  explain  how  that  which  was  wrapped  up  in  dark, 


Watchman,  what  of  the  Night  ?  57 

mysterious  prophecies,  canie  all  to  be  developed  to  tlie  very 
letter  of  tlie  record ;  how  that  which  was  the  literature  of 
a  peculiar  nation,  chanced  to  be  all  spiritual,  and  true  to 
the  necessities  of  human  nature ;  how,  while  scorned  and 
rejected  by  the  world  until  the  moment  when  Prophecy 
foretold  that  it  would  expand,  it  was  taken  to  the  heart  of 
humanity,  and  cherished  as  its  comfort,  its  life,  its  hope ; 
how,  as  the  world  continues  to  change,  this  religion  alone 
is  unchangeable  ;  how,  while  kingxloins  and  nations  perish 
and  pass  away,  this  Christianity  perishes  not ;  how  the  re- 
ligious utterances  of  men  as  unlike  us  in  every  thing  exter- 
nal as  the  Prophets  and  Kings  of  Israel,  should  be  the 
very  words  in  which  we  have  this  day,  and  in  this  holy 
temple,  poured  out  before  God  our  religious  feeliugs. 
Could  we  use  here  the  spiritual  language  of  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  —  if  they  had  any  spiritual  language  —  with- 
out jarring  upon  your  feelings,  and  desecrating  the  holi- 
ness of  this  sanctuary '?  And  yet  they  were  much  younger 
nations  than  the  Hebrews,  and  far  more  assimilated  to  the 
world.  Christianity  may  drive  you  off  by  the  sternness  of 
its  requisitions,  and  the  purity  of  its  life ;  but  history,  tra- 
dition, the  monuments  of  the  past,  and,  above  all,  your  own 
divine  thirst,  will  force  you  back,  and  impel  you  to  ask  of 
the  divine  watchman,  "  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?  " 
When  this  question  was  asked  out  of  Seir,  it  was  asked  in 
reference  to  the  heavy  burden  of  prophecies  which  lay  upon 
that  devoted  country,  —  those  prophecies  which  predicted, 
when  she  was  yet  in  the  pride  of  her  power  and  the  abun- 
dance of  her  riches,  that  Edom  should  be  a  desolation.  It 
may  have  been  asked  in  scorn  ;  it  may  have  been  asked  in 
faith ;  no  matter  which :  the  answer  was  alike  suitable  to 
both  :  "  The  morning  cometh,"  —  the  morning  of  light 
and  peace  and  opportunity ;  "  and  also  the  night,"  —  the 
night  of  trouble  and  calamity.    As  one  has  beautifully  ex- 


5  8  Watchman,  what  of  the  Night  ? 

pressed  it :  "  Is  it  night  ?  Yet  the  morning  comes,  and 
the  dayspring  knows  his  place.  Is  it  day  ?  Yet  the  night 
comes,  and  darkness  steals  over  the  world."  It  is  thus  in 
nature,  thus  in  life,  thus  in  spiritual  things. 

Would  to  God,  my  beloved  people,  that  you  could  be 
aroused  even  so  far  as  to  ask  your  watchman,  "  What  of 
the  night  ?  "  He  is  set  over  you  by  the  Lord.  His  duty 
is  to  see  that  you  are  warned  of  peril  to  your  souls ;  his 
pleasure  to  answer  truly,  when  you  ask  your  condition 
while  encompassed  by  the  deep  uncertainty  of  the  present 
and  of  the  future.  His  position  is  one  of  deep  responsi- 
bility to  you,  of  serious  peril  to  himself.  The  Word  of  the 
Lord  to  every  Minister  is  this  :  "  Son  of  man,  I  have  made 
thee  a  watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel :  therefore  hear 
the  word  at  my  mouth,  and  give  them  warning  from  me. 
When  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely  die ;  and 
thou  givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn  the 
wicked  from  his  wicked  way,  to  save  his  life ;  the  same 
wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will  I 
require  at  thine  hand." 1  You  hear  my  peril,  if  I  tell  you 
not  the  plain  truth.  Now  listen  to  yours  :  66  Yet  if  thou 
warn  the  wicked,  and  he  turn  not  from  his  wickedness,  nor 
from  his  wicked  way,  he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  thou 
hast  delivered  thy  soul."  2  This  is  our  relation,  —  one  cre- 
ated by  God,  —  one  irrevocable  in  its  nature,  and  eternal  in 
its  results,  —  one  that  will  follow  us  both  to  the  Judgment- 
seat  of  Christ.  And  while  such  a  relation,  so  solemn  and 
so  comprehensive,  exists  between  us,  we  hold  it  in  the 
midst  of  corruption,  of  infirmity,  of  temptation,  of  dark- 
ness. We  should  despair,  unless  the  light  of  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  had  ushered  in  a  morning,  during 
which  we  might  return  to  God,  and  come  back  to  the 
Father  from  whom  we  had  wandered,  reckless  prodigals  ! 

1  Ezekiel  iii.  17,  18.  Ibid.  19. 


Watchman,  what  of  the  Night  ?  59 

When  one  ont  of  Seir  asked  this  question,  "  What  of  the 
night  ?  "  Christ  had  not  yet  risen,  full-orbed,  upon  a  sinful 
world.  The  sky  was  brightening  over  Israel ;  the  rays  of 
prophecy  were  all  converging  and  becoming  a  light  in  a 
dark  place  :  but  the  morning,  the  glorious  morning,  was 
only  coming.  And  even  then,  when  the  watchman  dared 
only  to  answer  with  the  voice  of  promise  and  of  hope, 
"  The  morning  cometh  :  if  ye  will  inquire,  inquire  ye,"  he 
felt  himself  constrained  to  add,  "  and  also  the  night."  As 
if  he  said,  "  I  can  cheer  you  with  the  promise  of  a  coming 
Saviour;  there  are  the  beams  of  light  thick  gathering  in 
the  chambers  of  the  East.  I  can  enliven  this  darkness 
with  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  for  you  and  for  all  mankind ; 
tidings  of  redemption,  of  time  and  opportunity  for  repent- 
ance, of  the  glorious  hope  of  everlasting  life.  But  beyond 
that,  I  see  approaching  another  night,  darker  than  this ;  a 
night  wherein  no  man  can  work ;  in  whose  blackness  of 
darkness  no  watchman  shall  walk  his  solitary  round  and 
cry,  £  All's  well ; '  where  there  shall  be  no  question  and  no 
answer,  no  life,  no  peace,  no  hope  ;  but  all  shall  be  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  Therefore  I  cry  unto 
you,  c  If  ye  will  inquire,  inquire  ye  :  return,  come.' " 

Should  the  question  be  asked  to-day,  the  watchman  would 
answer,  "  The  morning  is  come."  The  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness has  arisen  upon  a  world  lying  in  darkness,  and  there 
is  all  around  us  the  bright  shining  of  truth  and  of  salvation. 
It  flashes  upon  us  from  every  thing  in  society,  just  as  the 
rays  of  the  glorious  orb  of  day  are  reflected  to  us  from  every 
object  in  nature,  the  minutest  as  well  as  the  grandest,  the 
grain  of  sand  and  the  drop  of  water  equally  with  the  moun- 
tain top  and  the  ocean's  bosom.  Milton's  prayer,  when 
through  his  blindness  he  would  see  the  visions  of  the  Al- 
mighty, "  What  in  me  is  dark,  illumine  ;  what  is  low,  raise 
and  support,"  has  been  granted  to  the  world  by  Christianity, 


6o  Watchman,  what  of  the  Night? 

and  comes  assured  to  our  feelings  as  well  as  our  reason. 
Christ  lias  sanctified  every  relation  of  life,  even  while  he 
was  modifying  the  civilization  of  the  world.  He  has  exalted 
poverty,  and  sorrow,  and  humility,  and  made  them  the  ve- 
hicles of  his  richest  blessings,  at  the  same  moment  that  He 
was  scattering  the  vain  philosophy  of  the  schools,  and  was 
overturning  the  temples  and  shrines  of  paganism.  "  Ob- 
jects remain,  and  relations  are  still  unbroken,"  is  the  rich 
language  of  Butler,  "  but  new  and  lovely  lights  and  shad- 
owings  cover  them.  They  move  in  the  same  directions  as 
before,  but  under  an  atmosphere  impregnated  with  brighter 
hues,  and  rich  with  a  light  that  streams  direct  from 
Heaven." 

This  then,  my  hearer,  is  your  opportunity.  Light  is  all 
around  you.  Truth  is  sown  broadcast.  Hope  spreads  her 
glittering  wings  above  you.  Society,  home,  your  own  un- 
quenchable desires,  your  own  thick  coming  affections,  all 
call  you  to  Christ.  You  have  no  need  of  the  watchman  to 
tell  you  of  the  morning.  The  Gospel  cannot  be  hid  from 
you ;  it  seems  impossible.  Why,  it  is  a  part  of  all  you  are, 
and  all  you  love.  It  is  the  foundation  of  your  happiness 
and  your  peace.  Even  while  you  do  not  see  it,  you  are  feel- 
ing it  in  every  pulse  of  your  manhood.  Even  while  you  are 
indifferent  to  it,  it  is  adorning  your  own  nature,  and  show- 
ering blessings  upon  your  ungrateful  head  !  Oh !  it  cannot 
be  hid  from  you,  —  it  is  too  palpable  in  its  glories  and  its 
wonders !  Oh !  let  it  not  be  hid ;  for  "  if  our  Gospel  be 
hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost :  in  whom  the  god  of 
this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  which  believe 
not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ,  who  is 
the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto  them."  1  Are  you  then 
among  the  lost  ?  Having  eyes,  can  you  not  see  P  Having 
ears,  can  you  not  hear  ?    Is  your  heart  stone,  that  you  can- 

i  2  Cor.  iv.  4. 


Watchman,  what  of  the  Night?  61 

not  feel  ?  Am  I  ploughing'  with  oxen  upon  a  rock  ?  God 
forbid  !  Try  and  see.  Try  and  feel.  Put  not  yourselves  in 
the  fearful  category  of  the  lost.  Let  not  the  bright  rays 
of  the  morning  shine  upon  you  without  imparting  to  you 
their  warmth  and  cheerfulness.  Let  not  nature  and  man 
rejoice  in  sympathy  with  God,  while  you  have  no  part  in  the 
divine  harmony.  Let  not  the  voice  of  adoration  swell  from 
the  choirs  of  the  universe,  from  angels  and  archangels,  and 
the  redeemed  of  every  nation  and  kindred  and  tribe  and 
people,  and  yours  be  one  of  discord  and  of  shame.  Now  is 
your  opportunity,  —  "  the  accepted  time,"  "  the  day  of  sal- 
vation." Let  the  Dayspring  which  has  arisen  upon  the 
world  arise  in  your  hearts,  and  bathe  them  in  the  sunlight 
of  heaven ! 

This  is  your  opportunity ;  but  even  as  the  watchman  an- 
swered, "  The  morning  cometh,"  he  added,  "  and  also  the 
night."  Oh !  how  true,  —  how  true  in  every  thing !  How 
bright  the  morning  is !  How  every  thing  is  rejoicing  around 
us !  How  the  blue  heavens  seem  liquid  with  happiness ! 
How  the  leaves  of  the  forest  quiver  in  the  sunlight  as  if 
they  were  dancing  for  joy !  How  the  birds  are  caroling 
their  morning  hymns,  and  sending  their  unconscious  music 
up  to  the  throne  of  God  !  How  vigorous  is  man,  as  he  treads 
the  earth  in  the  pride  of  his  manhood,  drinking  in  the 
healthful  sunshine,  and  reflecting  it  back  upon  every  thing*, 
as  if  in  the  superfluity  of  his  blessings !  But  the  night 
cometh !  Nothing  can  keep  it  from  following  the  morning : 
—  not  the  glory  of  heaven  ;  not  the  rejoicing  forests ;  not 
the  music  of  the  birds  ;  not  the  pride  nor  happiness  of  man. 
It  is  the  ordination  of  nature  !  Night  must  settle  over  the 
morning  ;  darkness  must  follow  light ;  obscurity  must  take 
the  place  of  brightness,  and  blot  out  all  the  beauties  of  the 
day.  And  it  is  not  confined  to  nature.  Darkness  treads 
upon  the  heels  of  joy  in  the  moral  world.    "  If  a  man  live 


62  Watchman,  what  of  the  Night? 

many  years,"  says  the  wise  Preacher,  "  and  rejoice  in  them 
all ;  yet  let  him  remember  the  days  of  darkness ;  for  they 
shall  be  many." 1  No  matter,  my  hearer,  how  bright  your 
morning  may  be,  the  night  cometh  also.  No  matter  how 
long  that  brightness  may  continue,  be  not  deceived :  the 
night  cometh  also.  Are  you  exulting  in  youth,  and  beauty, 
and  the  freshness  of  life :  "  Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy 
youth ;  and  let  thy  heart  cheer  thee  in  the  days  of  thy 
youth,  and  walk  in  the  ways  of  thine  heart,  and  in  the  sight 
of  thine  eyes : 2  but  know  thou  "  that  "  the  night  cometh 
also  ; "  —  the  night  of  sickness,  the  night  of  sorrow,  the 
night  of  death,  the  night  of  the  grave !  Are  you  nestled 
in  quiet  happiness  in  the  bosom  of  your  own  home,  finding 
your  peace  and  your  rest  in  the  hearts  of  the  loved  ones  who 
cluster  around  your  hearthstone,  and  make  it  redolent  with 
love  ?  Oh !  if  there  is  sunlight  upon  earth,  it  is  there.  It 
has  more  the  impress  of  heaven  than  any  other  image  upon 
earth.  But  even  there  "  the  night  cometh  also."  Art  thou 
rich,  and  increased  with  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing? 
Is  the  morning  shining  brightly  upon  thy  overflowing  barns, 
and  are  its  rays  glancing  gayly  from  thy  silver  and  thy  gold  ? 
"  The  night  cometh  also,"  when,  if  it  has  not  been  devoted 
to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  uses  of  mercy,  "  your  riches  will 
be  corrupted,  and  your  garments  motheaten,  and  your  gold 
and  your  silver  cankered  5  and  the  rust  of  them  shall  be  a 
witness  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your  flesh  as  it  were 
fire : " 3  when  you  shall  hear  the  solemn  cry,  "  Thou  fool, 
this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee." 4 

Are  you  a  Christian,  a  professed  follower  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  ?  Is  it  morning  with  your  soul  ?  Is  all  light 
there  ?  Are  you  saying  with  David,  "  In  thy  light  shall  I 
see  light  ?  "  5    Christian,  the  night  cometh  also  :  the  night 

1  Eccles.  xi.  8.  2  Ibid.  9.  3  S.  James  v.  3. 

*  S.  Luke  xii.  20.  5  Psalm  xxxvi.  9. 


Watchman,  what  of  the  Night  / 


63 


when  no  man  can  work ;  the  night  when  darkness  mar  rest 
upon  the  soul ;  the  night  when  your  dying  bed  shall  he  the 
scene  of  unutterable  struggles  between  vour  spirit  and  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Oh  !  think  of  these  things,  ye  that  hear  me 
this  day  ;  and,  while  the  light  is  with  you.  return  and  come. 
"  Give  glory  to  the  Loed  your  God,  before  he  cause  dark- 
ness, and  before  your  feet  stumble  upon  the  dark  mountains, 
and,  while  ye  look  for  light,  he  turn  it  into  the  shadow  of 
death,  and  make  it  gross  darkness/'1 

"  If  ye  will  inquire,  inquire  ye  :  "  so  answered  the  watch- 
man to  him  that  questioned  out  of  Seir  ;  and  so  answer  I. 
Inquire  !  —  inquire  into  every  thing  I  have  told  you  this  day, 
and  all  the  days  that  shall  have  to  be  accounted  for  between 
us.  Christianity  fears  no  inquiry  conducted  in  a  logical  and 
earnest  spirit.  It  dreads  only  indifference  and  the  spirit  of 
the  scorner.  It  has  been  subjected  all  along  its  course  to 
the  most  searching  and  malicious  inquiry.  —  inquiry  sug- 
gested by  the  devil,  and  carried  on  in  the  spirit  of  the 
devil,  with  the  bitter  hatred  of  the  crucified  Jesus :  and  it 
has  survived  it  all.  "  They  shall  perish,  but  Thou  shalt 
endure."  2  Inquire  into  it,  —  its  history,  its  prophecy,  its 
wonderful  development,  its  divine  moral  and  spiritual  fea- 
tures, its  suitableness  to  your  own  nature :  and  it  will  rise 
triumphant  from  the  search.  Let  not  your  days  slip  away  in 
apathy  and  unmovableness.  That  is  your  danger :  not  pos- 
itive unbelief,  but  to-morrow  —  to-morrow  —  to-morrow. 
"  Go  to  now,  ye  that  say,  To-day  or  to-morrow  we  will  go 
into  such  a  city,  and  continue  there  a  year,  and  buy  and 
sell,  and  get  gain  :  whereas  ye  know  not  what  shall  be  on 
the  morrow.  For  what  is  your  life  ?  It  is  even  a  vapor, 
that  appeareth  for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanisheth  away." 3 
And  inquire,  likewise,  into  the  experience  of  life.  If  the 
days  of  darkness  have  never  yet  come  upon  you,  inquire  of 

1  Jer.  xiii.  16.  2  Psalm  cii.  26.  3  S.  James  iv.  13,  LL 


64  Watchman,  what  of  the  Night  ? 

your  neighbors  and  friends  whether  the  night  does  not  come 
also.  Go  from  house  to  house,  and  search  and  see  if  there 
be  one  in  which  there  has  been  perpetual  morning.  The 
mournful  answer  which  the  stories  and  the  rafters  will  give 
you,  if  the  master  refuses  to  unfold  his  griefs,  will  tell 
you  that  "  the  night  cometh  also." 

And  when  you  have  inquired  and  are  satisfied,  then  re- 
turn to  the  Father  from  whose  love  you  have  wandered. 
Take  up  your  pilgrim's  staff,  and,  armed  with  the  resolution 
of  going  to  your  Father  and  confessing  your  sins,  tread  the 
way  back.  It  may  be  a  rugged,  thorny  way,  that  way  of 
repentance ;  but  it  leadeth  to  everlasting  life.  It  may  be 
a  way  of  humiliation  and  sorrow;  but  it  leadeth  to  our 
Father's  house,  where  are  peace  and  joy  for  evermore. 
Return,  come  !  The  voice  of  love  is  calling  to  you  from 
Bethlehem,  and  Gethsemane,  and  Calvary  !  Its  accents  are 
"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest." 1  Come  now,  while  the  light  of  morn- 
ing is  leaping  upon  the  mountains :  for  this  same  loving 
Saviour  said,  "Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light  with  you. 
Walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  lest  darkness  come  upon  you : 
for  he  that  walketh  in  darkness  knoweth  not  whither  he 
goeth." 2 

1  S.  Matt.  xi.  28.  2  S.  John  xii.  35. 


^efccntl)  Sermon. 


The  woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  thou  hast  not/wig  to  draw 
with,  and  the  well  is  deep  :  from  whence  then  hast  thou  that  livi?ig 
water  ?  —  S.  John  iv.  n. 

i^\XE  day,"  say  the  Arabs,  "  King  Xinirod  summoned  into 


his  presence  his  three  sons.  He  ordered  three  urns, 
under  seal,  to  be  set  before  them.  One  of  the  urns  was  of 
gold,  another  of  amber,  and  the  third  of  clay.  The  king 
bade  the  eldest  of  his  sons  to  choose  among  these  urns  that 
which  appeared  to  him  to  contain  the  treasure  of  greatest 
price.  He  chose  the  vase  of  gold,  on  which  was  written 
the  word  Empire  j  he  opened  it,  and  found  it  full  of  blood. 
The  second  took  the  vase  of  amber,  whereon  was  written 
the  word  Glory  ;  he  opened  it,  and  found  it  full  of  the  ashes 
of  men  who  had  made  a  great  figure  in  the  world.  The 
third  son  took  the  remaining  vase,  that  of  clay.  He  opened 
it,  and  found  it  quite  empty ;  but  on  the  bottom  the  potter 
had  inscribed  the  word  God.  6  Which  of  these  vases  is 
worth  the  most  ? 5  asked  the  king  of  his  courtiers.  The 
men  of  ambition  replied,  it  was  the  vase  of  gold ;  the  poets 
and  conquerors,  that  it  was  the  amber  one  ;  the  wise  men, 
that  it  was  the  empty  yase,  because  a  single  letter  of  the 
name  of  God  was  of  more  worth  than  the  whole  world." 

How  beautifully  this  legend  illustrates  the  judgment  of 
the  world  in  regard  to  Truth.  They  search  for  it,  and  think 
they  have  grasped  it,  when  they  have  laid  their  hands  upon 
the  vases  of  gold  and  the  vases  of  amber,  —  when  they  have 
sat  at  the  feet  of  the  great  men  of  the  earth,  the  Con- 


5 


66  The  Well  of  Living  Water. 

querors,  tlie  Poets,  the  Philosophers,  the  Statesmen.  They 
take  it  for  granted  that  if  there  is  wisdom,  it  must  be 
found  with  those ;  that  if  there  is  truth,  it  must  be  hid- 
den somewhere  among  their  treasures.  They  turn  away 
from  the  vases  of  clay,  never  dreaming  that  the  name  of 
God  may  be  written  upon  them ;  they  turn  away  from  the 
humble  of  heart,  from  the  meek  in  spirit,  from  the  suffer- 
ing, from  the  lowly,  from  those  to  whom  God  is  speaking  in 
silence  and  in  sorrow,  who  are  working  out  Truth  in  the 
only  way  by  which  it  can  be  won,  —  through  the  chastened 
experience  of  life.  These,  with  whom  God  loves  to  dwell, 
they  pass  unnoticed.  Nothing  attracts  them  there.  The 
well  of  Truth  is  deep,  and  these  seem  to  have  nothing  to 
draw  with.  They  press  on,  and  instead  of  water  to  quench 
their  immortal  thirst,  they  find  blood;  instead  of  food 
which  shall  endure  unto  eternal  life,  they  find  ashes  ! 

And  yet,  methinks,  God  should  have  taught  all  Christian 
men,  through  the  life  of  His  Son,  where  to  seek  for  truth. 
"  I  am  the  Truth,"  1  said  Christ :  and  Christ  was  "  meek 
and  lowly  in  heart."  2  "I  am  the  Truth,"  said  Christ :  and 
Christ  was  "  a  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief."3 
"  I  am  the  Truth,"  said  Christ :  and  Christ  was  "  brought 
as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  opened  not  his  mouth." 4 
"  I  am  the  Truth,"  said  Christ ;  and  He  bowed  His  head 
and  cried,  "  Not  my  will,  but  Thine,  0  God,  be  done !  " 5 
It  seems  strange,  with  such  indications  as  these,  that  man 
should  not  know  where  to  seek  for  Truth,  —  that  he  should 
be  at  all  at  a  loss  about  the  conditions  of  human  life  in 
which  he  should  be  most  likely  to  find  it.  To  discover 
Truth,  we  must  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  Truth ;  and  they 
lead,  in  this  world,  through  paths  from  which  human 
nature  shrinks,  unless  it  be  sincerely  earnest.  The  disciple 

1  S.  John  xiv.  6.  2  S.  Matt.  xi.  29.  8  Isaiah  liii.  3. 

4  Isaiah  liii.  7.  6  S.  Luke  xxii.  42. 


The  Well  of  Living  Water.  67 

must  be  satisfied  if  lie  be  as  his  Master ;  and  this  Master 
we  have  introduced  to  us  in  the  story  from  which  niv  text 
is  taken,  as  a  weary  traveller,  seated  upon  Jacob's  well,  alone 
and  thirsty,  having  nothing  to  draw  with,  while  the  well 
was  deep,  and  the  water  unattainable. 

The  conversation  which  took  place  under  these  circum- 
stances is  full  of  interest  and  instruction.  "  There  cometh 
a  woman  of  Samaria  to  draw  water  :  Jesus  saith  unto  her, 
Give  me  to  drink.  Then  saith  the  woman  of  Samaria  unto 
him,  How  is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of  me, 
which  am  a  woman  of  Samaria  ?  for  the  J ews  have  no  deal- 
ing's with  the  Samaritans.  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
her,  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that 
saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink ;  thou  wouldest  have  asked 
of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living  water.  The 
woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw 
with,  and  the  well  is  deep  :  from  whence  then  hast  thou 
that  living  water  ?  " 

This  is  the  question  of  man  in  all  generations  to  Jesus 
Christ.  "  The  well  is  deep,  —  the  well  of  Truth  ;  thou  art, 
to  all  appearance,  an  obscure  man,  of  an  obscure  nation. 
To  the  eye  of  sense,  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with.  Thou 
hast  neither  philosophy,  — for  we  know  not  thy  school;  nor 
power,  —  for  thy  father  was  a  carpenter ;  nor  glory,  —  for 
thou  diedst  a  felon's  death ;  nor  riches,  —  for  thou  hadst 
not  where  to  lay  thy  head  :  from  whence  then  hast  thou 
that  living  water,  —  that  truth  which  is  to  be  a  fountain 
within  us,  opening  up  into  everlasting  life  ?  We  know  not 
truth,  unless  it  comes  to  us  from  the  wise,  or  the  mighty, 
or  the  noble  of  this  world.  We  look  for  it  where  glory 
illumines  the  path,  where  gold  glitters  in  its  dust,  where 
learning  stains  it  with  its  sweat,  where  poetry  and  philoso- 
phy strew  it  with  their  creations.  Thou  art  only  a  vase  of 
clay.    Should  we  take  the  trouble  to  unseal  thee,  we  should 


68  The  Well  of  Living  Water, 

find  thee  empty."  And  the  world  sweeps  on,  never  dream- 
ing that  the  Almighty  potter  has  written  the  name  of  GOD 
upon  that  humble,  weary,  thirsty  wayfarer. 

Our  Saviour,  as  He  sat  upon  that  well,  was  both  man  and 
God.  As  man,  He  was,  like  man,  powerless  to  reach  the 
water  in  that  well  of  Truth :  it  was  deep,  and  He  had  noth- 
ing to  draw  with.  He  could  see  it  lying  far  beneath  Him, 
calm  and  pure.  He  could  perceive  heaven  in  its  bosom,  re- 
flected as  in  a  mirror.  He  thirsted  for  it  with  an  unquench- 
able thirst :  but  all  in  vain.  It  was  there,  —  but  not  for 
Him ;  not  for  Him,  at  least,  in  that  way,  and  under  those 
circumstances.  It  had  been  there  from  the  beginning,  and 
man  had  always  longed  for  it :  but  it  seemed  unattainable. 
Many  a  traveller,  weary  and  thirsty,  had  come  to  it  as  to  a 
shrine :  but  not  one  had  ever  drawn  water  from  its  depths. 
Each  one  had  gazed  into  its  beauteous  face,  had  seen  heaven 
there,  had  stretched  out  his  hands  that  he  might  clutch  it, 
and  carry  it  to  his  burning  lips  :  but  they  all  grasped  emp- 
tiness, for  the  name  of  God  had  not  yet  been  written  upon 
it.  Truth  was  not  yet  for  man.  The  fullness  of  times  was 
not  yet  come  :  and  philosophy  speculated  in  vain,  and  poetry 
created  in  vain,  and  wisdom  cried  in  vain  at  her  portal. 
There  was  no  answer.  Man  described  truth,  bedizened  truth, 
counterfeited  truth,  adored  truth :  but  all  that  was  very  (lif- 
erent from  drinking  it  in,  and  assimilating  it  to  himself. 
Yet  this  was  what  man  wanted, — truth  as  a  satisfying  real- 
ity, as  a  substantive  good  which  should  enter  into  his  being, 
and  become  a  part  of  his  nature,  and  give  him  assurance  of 
everlasting  life.  All  this  Christ  represented,  in  His  human 
nature,  as  He  sat  upon  the  brink  of  that  deep  well.  He 
was  the  type  of  fallen  man,  weary  and  thirsty,  with  the 
water  gushing  in  his  sight,  and  nothing  wherewith  he 
might  reach  it.  Sad  image  of  our  condition  :  until  He 
came  and  gave  us  another  side  to  the  picture. 


The  Well  of  Living  Water.  69 

The  vase  of  clay,  which  the  woman  of  Samaria  saw  there, 
had  the  name  of  GOD  written  upon  it !  He  looked  like  any 
other  man ;  He  was  weary  like  any  other  man ;  He  was 
thirsty  like  any  other  man  :  but  He  was  nevertheless  God  ! 
He  might  be  poor ;  He  might  be  obscure ;  He  might  be 
suffering :  but  nevertheless,  He  was  God.  And  as  God, 
Truth  was  His  own,  grew  in  His  own  bosom,  was  the  very 
essence  of  His  Nature.  He  needed  not  to  draw  for  it  out 
of  any  well,  not  even  the  well  of  Jacob.  It  was  a  fountain 
forever  gushing  within  Himself,  wherewith  He  might  sup- 
ply all  that  should  come.  "  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of 
God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink ; 
thou  wouldst  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  giveu 
thee  living  water."  What  glad  tidings  for  man !  No  more 
vain  hunting  after  truth ;  no  more  vain  yearning  after  its 
pure  refreshing  waters ;  no  more  sitting  and  gazing  into 
that  deep  well,  from  which  we  have  nothing  that  can  sat- 
isfy us.  Here  is  a  man  —  a  man  like  ourselves  —  who  is 
Himself  the  Truth  ;  who  will  give  us,  for  the  asking,  enough 
to  create  within  ourselves  a  well-spring,  springing  up  into 
everlasting  life.  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up 
into  everlasting  life."  And  how  lovingly  he  calls  us  to  that 
divine  Fountain  !  His  prophet  had  foreseen  it  when  he 
sang,  "Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters ; "  1  had  foreseen  this  very  Man  of  Sorrows,  opening 
a  fountain  in  the  house  of  David :  but  He  Himself  pro- 
claimed it  on  that  day  when  the  Israelites  sang  their  joy- 
ful thanksgiving:  "Behold,  God  is  my  salvation;  I  will 
trust,  and  not  be  afraid :  for  the  Lord  JEHOVAH  is  my 
strength  and  my  song;  he  also  is  become  my  salvation. 
Therefore  with  joy  shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells  of 

1  Isaiah  lv.  1. 


jo  The  Well  of  Living  Water. 

salvation."  1  "  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast, 
Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  me,  and  drink."2 

What  a  blessed  conjunction  of  Natures  !  —  as  man,  sit- 
ting upon  the  well  of  Truth,  as  cheerless  as  any  of  us,  hav- 
ing nothing  to  draw  with :  but  as  God,  having  Truth  at  his 
command,  and  ready  to  bestow  it  upon  every  one  who  will 
ask  for  it  as  becomes  a  thirsty,  dying  creature.  Why,  oh ! 
why  will  not  man  lay  aside  his  pride  and  his  unbelief,  and 
come  to  the  feet  of  this  loving  human  Brother,  and  receive 
the  treasures  of  His  wisdom  ?  Because,  like  the  Samaritan 
woman,  he  thinks  that  truth  can  come  only  out  of  earthly 
wells ;  and  whenever  Christ  proffers  him  truth,  his  question 
is,  "  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with,  and  the  well  is 
deep  ;  from  whence  then  hast  thou  that  living  water  ?  " 

And  this  brings  up,  as  you  perceive,  the  whole  question 
of  a  Revelation.  The  Jews  had  this  trouble  very  early  in 
our  Saviour's  ministry.  When  He  had  been  teaching*  in 
the  synagogues,  speaking  as  never  man  spake,  they  "  were 
astonished  and  said,  Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom, 
and  these  mig'hty  works  ?  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son  ? 
(the  vase  of  clay,  you  see ;  —  that  was  the  difficulty  ! )  is 
not  his  mother  called  Mary  ?  and  his  brethren,  James,  and 
Joses,  and  Simon,  and  Judas  ?  And  his  sisters,  are  they 
not  all  with  us?  (still  harping  upon  the  clay).  Whence  then 
hath  this  man  all  these  things?  And  they  were  offended 
in  him.  "  3  How  soon  it  began  !  —  and  it  has  never  ceased, 
and  never  will  cease.  It  is  the  question  of  Unbelief ;  and 
unbelief  never  dies,  —  unbelief  in  a  God  that  cares  for  His 
creatures,  that  will  provide  for  His  creatures :  for  what  pro- 
vision does  man  need  so  much  as  Truth?  And  where  is  he 
to  get  it,  unless  it  come  from  God?  Has  he  not  been 
searching  for  it  long  ages,  and  is  he  any  nearer  to  it  by 

1  Isaiah  xii.  2,  3.  2  S.  John  vii.  37.  3  S.  Matt.  xiii.  54-6. 


The  Well  of  Living  Water. 


those  researches  ?  Have  there  not  been  as  many  schools  of 
Truth,  as  there  have  been  men  of  ability  ?  Have  not  the 
wise  men  of  one  age  assaulted  and  overturned  all  that  was 
deemed  truth  by  the  wise  men  of  another?  Has  it  not 
been  overturning;  overturning,  overturning,  from  the  days 
when  speculation  was  born  in  the  East  until  now  ?  And  is 
not  the  warfare  still  going  on  ?  Oh,  how  pitiful  to  see 
those  poor,  worn,  weary,  thirsty  men,  struggling  by  the  side 
of  that  deep  well  of  Truth,  having  nothing  to  draw  with, 
and  striving  to  pass  off  the  muddy  water  which  they  have 
taken  from  their  own  cisterns,  for  the  pure  refreshing  water 
that  has  heaven  always  reflected  in  it !  They  will  not  re- 
ceive it  from  Christ.  He  seems  to  be  but  a  man,  for  He  was 
born,  and  had  infirmities,  and  suffered,  and  died :  whence 
then  has  He  living  water  '?  And  why  is  this,  my  hearers  ? 
Why  this  reluctance  to  believe  in  a  Eevelation  ?  Surely 
now,  after  nearly  six  thousand  years,  you  may  give  up  any 
hope  for  Truth  from  any  source  save  God  !  You  have  tried 
long  enough,  0  man  !  to  draw  it  up  from  the  depths  of  the 
earth.  That  has  beeu  your  plan.  Xow  try  God's,  — to  re- 
ceive Truth  from  the  heavens  above,  from  God  the  fountain 
of  Truth ;  and  cavil  not  if  He  offer  it  to  you  in  a  vase  of 
clay,  if  so  be  you  can  only  see  His  Xarue  written  upon  it. 

And  is  there  not  abundant  proof  that  GOD'S  Xame  is 
written  upon  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  Was  that  man,  who  sat 
upon  Jacob's  well,  wayworn  and  thirsty,  unheralded  ?  A 
whole  nation,  unique  in  its  history  and  peculiar  in  its  insti- 
tutions, was  set  apart  and  miraculously  preserved  through 
long  ages  to  predict  His  coming.  Epochs  which  mau  could 
not  arrange  nor  modify,  were  fixed  centuries  before  He  came, 
to  declare  His  Birth.  Miracles  accompanied  Him  from  His 
cradle  to  His  grave.  Wisdom  flowed  from  His  lips,  such  as 
man  never  spake,  such  as  man  can  never  imitate.  His  life 
enlightened  the  world:  His  death  converted  it!  "What 


72  The  Well  of  Living  Water, 

mark  does  He  want,  to  certify  Him  to  be  from  God  ?  He  is 
not  a  vase  of  Gold,  and  has  not  Empire  written  upon  Him ! 
But  remember,  that  vase  was  full  of  blood,  —  the  blood  of 
the  oppressed,  of  the  conquered,  of  the  murdered ;  and  He 
came  to  bring  peace  on  earth,  good-will  towards  men.  He 
is  not  a  vase  of  Amber,  and  has  not  Glory  written  upon 
Him.  But  remember,  that  vase  was  full  of  ashes,  —  of  the 
ashes  of  hope,  of  desire,  of  love,  of  greatness;  and  He 
came  to  renew  hope,  to  satisfy  desire,  to  enkindle  love  and 
make  it  immortal ;  to  raise  men  to  the  true  greatness  of 
being  the  sons  of  God.  He  came  to  give  us  beauty  for 
ashes  !  How  can  you  expect  to  see  Him  in  any  shape  so 
contrary  to  the  purpose  of  His  coming  ?  He  could  come 
only  as  He  did  come,  if  He  would  redeem  man  and  restore 
him  to  Truth  and  God  ! 

Until  He  came,  man  was  indeed  a  vase  of  clay,  empty  and 
worthless.  God  had  no  part  in  him,  save  in  his  creation, 
after  sin  had  destroyed  the  likeness  of  God.  How  could  the 
Name  of  God  be  once  again  written  upon  him  ?  The  Bible 
tells  us :  Only  by  the  Son  of  God  taking  our  nature  and 
redeeming  us  back  by  His  own  Blood.  He,  as  man,  must 
satisfy  God  for  the  race  of  man  ;  and  because,  in  doing  this, 
He  appears  on  earth  as  a  man,  are  we  to  reject  him  ?  Are 
we  to  despise  that  humiliation,  when  we  learn  that  it  was 
the  only  mode  by  which  we  might  attain  unto  glory  ?  Sup- 
pose you  that  humiliation  is  any  the  more  pleasant  to  God, 
than  to  man  ?  Was  not,  then,  the  form  He  took,  the  pov- 
erty He  endured,  the  scorn  He  underwent,  the  cruel  death 
He  died,  the  most  striking  evidence  of  His  love  to  us  ?  And 
because  of  His  love,  are  you  so  short-sighted,  so  earthly,  as 
to  despise  Him  ?  Can  you  not  see  the  moral,  the  spiritual 
glory  of  God,  breaking  out  through  that  tenement  of  clay  ? 
Could  a  mere  man  have  lived  as  He  lived,  without  spot  and 
without  blemish  ?    Could  a  mere  man  have  placed  Truth 


The  Well  of  Living  Water. 


73 


upon  such  a  basis  as  that  neither  Philosophy,  nor  Science, 
nor  Time,  can  shake  it  ?  Could  a  mere  man  have  assumed 
all  the  lowliness  of  His  circumstances,  and  dignified  them, 
and  made  them  honorable,  —  nay,  sublime?  Could  a  mere 
man  have  died  as  He  died,  making  the  Cross  a  very  chariot 
of  glory  ?  A  vase  of  clay  He  was,  because  it  was  necessary 
He  should  be  :  but  on  it  was  clearly  written  —  too  clearly 
for  any  one  to  say  he  cannot  read  it  —  the  Name  of  GOD, 
the  great  unchangeable  I  AM. 

And  He  has  arranged  in  His  Church  the  means  whereby 
we  may  attain  to  Truth.  It  is  no  longer  necessary  that  any 
human  creature  should  thirst ;  the  living  water  can  be  his 
for  the  asking.  Christ  is  ready  to  communicate  with  us 
through  His  Spirit,  —  that  Spirit  whom  He  sent  into  the 
world  when  He  took  His  place  as  our  Advocate  at  the  right 
hand  of  His  Father.  "  Howbeit,  when  he  the  Spirit  of  truth 
is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth  :  for  he  shall  not 
speak  of  himself.  He  shall  glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  receive 
of  mine,  and  shall  shew  it  unto  you."  1  Truth  now  comes 
down  to  us.  No  more  digging  cisterns  that  can  hold  no 
water  !  No  more  peering  into  deep  wells  to  look  for  Truth  ! 
No  more  watching  of  those  old  wrestlers  after  the  good  and 
the  beautiful,  to  see  if  perchance  they  might  find  out  any 
thing  for  guidance  or  for  comfort !  We  have  now  a  better 
well  than  Jacob  dug ;  one  not  of  the  earth,  earthy ;  but 
"  a  pure  river  of  water  of  Life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding 
out  of  the  Throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb." 2  Let  us  drink 
of  that,  and  be  satisfied.  Let  us  bathe  in  that,  and  receive 
new  life.  It  is  the  true  fountain  of  youth.  "  They  that 
wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength ;  they  shall 
mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles."  3  And  we  are  not  without 
something  to  draw  with.    "  Say  not  in  thine  heart,  Who 

1  S.  John  xvi.  13,  14.  2  Key.  xxii.  1. 

3  Isaiah  xl.  31. 


74  The  Well  of '  Living  Water. 

shall  ascend  into  heaven  ?  (that  is,  to  hring  Christ  down  from 
above ; )  or,  Who  shall  descend  into  the  deep  P  (that  is,  to 
bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead.)  But  what  saith  it  ? 
The  word  is  nigh  thee,  even  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart : 
that  is,  the  word  of  faith,  which  we  preach."1  And  not 
only  is  it  nigh  us  through  the  Spirit :  but  we  have  prayer, 
the  great  instrument  for  drawing  Truth  out  of  the  wells  of 
salvation.  It  was  that  which  gave  the  weary  Man  who  sat 
upon  the  well  of  Jacob,  power  for  all  His  work  of  love. 
"  Oh,  my  Father !  "  was  His  constant  cry.  Whole  nights 
He  spent  in  prayer.  All  His  miracles  were  accompanied  by 
prayer.  He  prayed  in  the  Garden,  until  great  drops  of 
sweat,  like  unto  blood,  fell  upon  the  ground.  He  prayed 
upon  the  Cross,  until  He  cried,  "  It  is  finished."  That  is 
our  instrument.  It  brings  the  Holy  Spirit  to  us,  and  He 
gives  life  to  all  the  ordinances.  We  feel  His  Presence  in 
the  House  of  God.  We  experience  His  power  at  the  Sacred 
Feast.  We  rejoice  in  the  flood  of  truth  which  He  strikes 
from  the  Word  of  Truth ;  and  while  we  revel  in  the  love  of 
God  which  He  sheds  abroad  in  the  heart,  we  are  made  sen- 
sible that  although  we  are  but  vases  of  clay,  yet  neverthe- 
less is  the  Name  of  God  written  upon  us. 

1  Rom.  x.  6-8. 


etgljtl)  Sermon 


And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a 
kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  destroyed :  and  the  ki?igdom  shall  not 
be  left  to  other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all 
these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever.  —  Daniel  ii.  44. 

/^\YID  said  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  his  day,  which  was 
contemporary  with  the  birth,  of  our  Saviour,  that  when 
Jupiter  looked  down  from  the  pinnacles  of  heaven  he  could 
not  descry  any  thing  throughout  creation  that  was  not  Ro- 
man. This  was,  of  course,  poetically  extravagant ;  but  much 
soberer  writers  than  Ovid  speak  of  the  Empire  under  Augus- 
tus as  embracing  all  the  world  that  was  considered  worth 
having.  It  was  the  widest  dominion  which  had  been  then 
known ;  and  if  it  did  not  equal  the  great  Empires  of  the 
present  day,  —  the  Russian,  the  British,  the  American, — it 
surpassed  them  all  in  the  compactness  of  its  power,  in  the 
command  of  its  resources,  in  the  terror  of  its  arms,  in  the 
celerity  and  certainty  of  its  blows  of  conquest  or  vengeance. 
It  was  not  the  growth  of  a  day.  It  had  been  consolidating 
for  seven  centimes.  And  when  Augustus  closed  the  gates  of 
the  temple  of  Janus,  it  numbered  among  its  subjects  all  the 
civilized  nations  of  the  earth,  while  the  savages  who  hovered 
around  its  frontiers  were  ready  to  acknowledge  its  dominion, 
and  careful  to  avoid  its  anger.  It  seemed,  so  far  as  man 
then  knew,  to  be  limited  only  by  the  horizon ;  and  its 
strength  was  of  a  piece  with  its  extent.  It  was  no  loose 
disjointed  mass,  without  unity  and  harmony.  Although 
embracing  within  its  wide  circumference  various  climates 


76  The  Kingdom  of  Christ, 

and  innumerable  tribes,  it  had  carried  with  it  in  its  progress 
its  civil  and  military  institutions,  and  had  knit  together  all 
these  diversified  nations  with  bands  of  iron,  so  that  each  was 
made  tributary  to  the  fullest  extent  of  its  wealth  and  power. 
And  all  this  vast  accumulation  of  riches  and  legions  was 
subject  to  a  single  will,  and  could  be  hurled  with  irresistible 
force  upon  any  point  either  of  resistance  or  rebellion.  The 
world  seemed  to  have  reached  that  condition  when  all  na- 
tionalities were  to  be  swallowed  up,  and  one  iron  rule,  fierce 
and  stern,  was  to  mould  every  thing  into  its  own  shape,  and 
keep  that  hopeless  of  change. 

Under  this  aspect  of  things  there  was  born,  in  a  remote 
corner  of  this  powerful  Empire,  a  Child,  seemingly  of  very 
obscure  parentage.  His  mother,  it  is  true,  was  of  the  house 
and  lineage  of  David  ;  but  so  reduced  in  circumstances  that 
her  husband  was  a  carpenter.  One  of  the  decrees  of  Au- 
gustus, expressive  of  his  universal  dominion,  —  that  all  the 
world  should  be  taxed,  —  brought  this  humble  pair  to  Beth- 
lehem, where  the  Child  came  to  the  birth,  and  was  cradled 
in  a  manger.  From  this  time  until  John  appeared  in  the 
wilderness  of  Judsea,  we  hear  no  more  of  this  Child  ;  except 
that  once,  when  a  mere  Boy,  He  strayed  from  His  parents, 
and  was  found  in  the  Temple  among  the  Doctors,  amazing 
them  by  His  wisdom  and  answers.  After  He  had  been  an- 
nounced by  John,  we  can  follow  His  history  for  three  years, 
when  we  find  Him  accused  before  Pontius  Pilate,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Judaea,  who  permitted  Him,  —  although  he  could 
find  no  guilt  in  Him,  —  to  be  crucified  between  two  thieves, 
as  a  common  malefactor.  During  His  short  career,  He  had 
attracted  great  attention  among  His  countrymen.  But  their 
interest  in  Him  was  only  short-lived ;  and  when  He  died, 
He  left  but  few  friends,  and  they  of  the  lowest  classes  of  the 
people  in  rank  and  consequence.  To  them  and  to  all  who 
would  listen  to  Him  He  declared  Himself  to  be  the  Christ, 


The  Kingdom  of  Christ.  77 

the  Anointed  of  God,  the  long-promised  and  prophesied  Mes- 
siah, who  had  come  to  set  up  in  the  world  the  Kingdom  pre- 
dicted by  Daniel  in  the  words  of  my  text :  "  And  in  the 
days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  king- 
dom, which  shall  never  be  destroyed  :  and  the  kingdom  shall 
not  he  left  to  other  people,  hut  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and 
consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever." 

What  a  contrast  between  these  two  kingdoms  !  The  one 
throned  in  power,  mighty  in  resources,  surrounded  with  the 
prestige  of  a  thousand  victories  :  the  other,  finding  as  its 
only  earthly  support  a  few  illiterate  countrymen,  and  they 
disheartened  by  the  ignominious  death  of  their  Leader. 
The  one  illustrious  in  its  historians  and  poets  and  orators, 
who  scattered  its  fame  broadcast  among  the  people,  and  em- 
balmed its  glories  in  immortal  verse  :  the  other  known  only 
to  the  few  whom  its  preachers  might  attract,  and  whose  only 
literature  was  the  volume  of  their  Master's  sad  and  painful 
story.  The  one  with  a  gorgeous  worship,  whose  officers 
were  statesmen,  and  whose  rites  were  national,  and  who 
received  into  their  tolerant  Pantheon  every  deity  who  might 
increase  their  popularity :  the  other  with  nothing  to  attract 
save  naked  Truth ;  whose  temples  were  the  desert  and  the 
cave,  and  the  blue  vault  of  heaven ;  whose  priests  were  un- 
learned men,  save  as  God  might  inspire  them ;  whose  faith 
was  a  declaration  of  war  —  war  to  the  bitter  end  of  mar- 
tyrdom—  against  idolatry  and  false  philosophy,  and  every 
thing  that  exalted  itself  against  the  Name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  The  one  offering  to  its  votaries  pleasure,  power, 
rank,  office,  with  the  delights  of  the  present  life  :  the  other, 
concealing  nothing  of  the  ruggedness  of  the  way  of  Life, 
but  sternly  presenting  to  its  disciples  poverty,  and  humilia- 
tion, and  suffering,  and  often  death.  Could  any  one,  who 
looked  upon  these  antagonists  as  they  stood  face  to  face 
upon  the  day  of  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ,  doubt  which 


73 


The  Kingdom  of  Christ. 


would  prove  victorious,  Caesar  or  Christ  ?  —  which  would 
endure  the  longest,  the  Roman  Empire  or  the  Kingdom  of 
Righteousness  ?  If  each  was  to  depend  upon  what  man 
could  see,  the  idea  that  Christ  would  prevail  should  have 
been  the  merest  mockery  of  human  experience  ! 

Let  us  now  overleap  the  centuries  which  have  intervened 
between  the  moment  when  Christ  cried  upon  the  Cross, 
"  It  is  finished,"  and  our  day,  and  see  what  has  been  the  re- 
sult of  the  conflict.  Daniel,  who  called  himself  the  prophet 
of  the  Most  High  God,  prophesied  of  this  antagonism  six 
hundred  years  before  these  parties  were  arrayed  against 
one  another ;  prophesied  of  it  while  yet  the  Roman  nation 
was  in  its  cradle  upon  the  Tiber ;  while  yet  the  Son  of  God 
was  in  the  Bosom  of  His  Father  :  and  he  said,  after  enumer- 
ating the  great  monarchies  of  the  earth  which  should  suc- 
ceed one  another,  the  Babylonian,  the  Persian,  the  Mace- 
donian, the  Roman,  "  And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall 
the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  be 
destroyed  :  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other  peo- 
ple, but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these  king- 
doms, and  it  shall  stand  for  ever."  And  in  the  preceding 
part  of  the  same  prophecy  he  described  that  kingdom  of 
righteousness,  figuratively,  as  a  "  Stone  cut  out  without 

hands,  which  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled 

the  whole  earth."1  Standing  where  we  do  to-day,  let  us 
see  what  is  the  state  of  the  world  and  what  has  wrought 
the  effects  we  perceive. 

What  has  become  of  the  two  kingdoms  of  the  Caesars 
and  of  Christ  ?  We  look  around  us  in  vain  for  the  great 
Empire  of  Augustus.  It  is  utterly  broken  to  pieces,  as 
Daniel  foretold  it  should  be,  —  broken  into  fragments, 
whose  greatest  glory  are  its  ruins.  Its  noblest  monuments 
are  those  which  attest  its  utter  destruction  !    Its  language 

i  Dan.  ii.  34,  35. 


The  Kingdom  of  Christ.  79 

remains  to  us,  dead  to  all  the  uses  of  life :  unhonored,  save 
as  it  is  embalmed  in  the  inspiration  of  genius.  A  hundred 
nations  divide  the  heritage  of  Caesar's  Empire  :  and  the 
imperial  city,  whose  name  was  a  terror  to  the  world,  is  now 
guarded  by  the  nations,  not  because  it  contains  the  ashes 
of  the  Caesars,  but  because  he  is  seated  there  who  calls  him- 
self the  representative  of  Christ  upon  earth.  How  wonder- 
ful !  The  successors  of  that  mighty  man  who  strode  our 
world  like  a  colossus,  utterly  lost,  —  clean  forgotten:  and 
the  successor  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  representative  of 
the  bumble  Xazarene,  seated  in  his  place  of  power.  The 
simple  fact  is  in  itself  an  argument,  not  for  the  supremacy 
of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  but  for  the  supremacy  of  Christ's 
Kingdom  over  Caesar's  kingdom,  the  Kingdom  of  righteous- 
ness over  that  of  power  !  The  fact  is  patent.  The  one  has 
displaced  the  other.  The  strong  has  been  broken  in  pieces, 
and  the  weak  has  been  exalted.  The  Empire  which  over- 
shadowed the  world  has  disappeared ;  and  the  Kingdom 
which  was  cradled  in  humiliation  and  sorrow  has  taken  its 
place.  This  single  circumstance  —  were  there  none  other 
—  should  speak  volumes  to  the  thoughtful  mind.  This 
issue  to  the  contest,  even  upon  its  surface,  is  so  unexpected, 
so  startling  to  all  experience,  that  it  wakes  up  inquiry,  and 
forces  us  to  ask :  "  Has  Christ  really  conquered  in  such  an 
unequal  struggle  ?  93 

We  cannot  find  the  Empire  of  Augustus ;  but  we  do  find 
everywhere  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  It  meets  us  at  every 
turn.  All  Europe,  with  a  very  trifling  exception,  is  Chris- 
tian. All  America,  save  the  few  wild  tribes  of  the  wil- 
derness, is  Christian.  Half  of  Asia  is  Christian :  and 
Christianity  is  now  thundering  at  the  gates  of  the  remain- 
ing Empires  of  the  East.  Africa  is  encompassed  with 
Christian  missionaries,  who  are  gradually  working  their 
way,  through  disease  and  ignorance  and  barbarism,  into  its 


So  The  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

dark  mysteriousness.  And  that  still  newer  world  than  ours, 
which  lay  so  long  hidden  in  its  unique  singularity,  is  rap- 
idly rising  into  a  great  Christian  nation.  This  is  one  view 
which  strikes  us ;  but  there  is  another  still  more  important 
in  this  connection.  Not  merely  is  Christ  acknowledged  and 
worshipped  already  over  a  surface  ten  times  as  great  as  the 
Roman  Empire,  but  all  the  rising  nations  of  the  earth  — 
those  which  are  ordained  to  sway  its  destinies  —  are  Chris- 
tian. The  Russian  Empire,  which  is  destined  to  blot  out 
Mahometanism  and  rule  over  all  Northern  Asia,  is  a  part 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  The  British  Empire,  which 
already  holds  the  sceptre  of  the  East,  and  which  will  one 
day  rule  over  the  whole  Eastern  Archipelago,  is  another 
part  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  The  American  Republic, 
which  even  in  its  infancy  is  making  itself  felt  throughout 
this  whole  continent,  is  another  part  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ.  And  Rome,  with  her  spiritual  sceptre  influencing 
more  minds  than  ever  did  Rome  with  her  imperial  eagles, 
is,  however  corrupt,  another  portion  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ.  Every  influence  is  tending  to  enlarge  this  King- 
dom, and  none  to  diminish  it.  What  Daniel  said  of  this 
Kingdom  is,  to  all  appearance,  true  :  "  And  in  the  days  of 
these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  Kingdom, 
which  shall  never  be  destroyed."  It  has  gone  on  enlarging 
and  widening  through  all  the  changes  of  the  world ;  and 
to-day  its  sphere  is  larger,  its  glory  brighter,  and  its  pros- 
pects fairer,  than  they  have  ever  been  during  its  eventful 
history. 

Daniel's  prophecy  embraced  all  the  peculiarities  of  this 
Kingdom.  It  occupies  only  three  or  four  verses;  but  in 
that  brief  space  it  is  pictured  in  all  its  most  striking  char- 
acteristics. He  calls  it  a  "  Stone  cut  out  without  hands," 
rising,  spreading,  increasing,  without  any  visible  means. 
No  man  lent  his  power  to  it.    All  power  was  against  it. 


The  Kingdom  of  Christ.  81 

No  man  carried  it  forward  by  his  worldly  wisdom.  The 
greatest  scholar  who  was  converted  to  its  cause  wrote  to 
the  Corinthians :  "  And  I,  brethren,  when  I  came  to  you, 
came  not  with  excellency  of  speech,  or  of  wisdom,  declaring 
unto  you  the  testimony  of  God.  For  I  determined  not  to 
know  any  thing  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  cru- 
cified That  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wis- 
dom of  man,  but  in  the  power  of  God."1  No  one  seized 
upon  it  as  his  chariot  in  which  to  ride  to  Empire.  For  cen- 
turies every  one  was  against  it :  and  yet,  long  before  the 
days  of  Constantine,  Tertullian  tells  us  that  "  Christians 
filled  the  cities,  the  islands,  the  towns,  the  boroughs,  the 
camp,  the  senate,  and  the  forum ;  99  and  Origen  said  that 
"  there  was  not  a  nation,  whether  Greek  or  barbarian,  or  of 
any  other  name,  even  of  those  who  wander  in  tribes  or  live 
in  tents,  where  the  religion  of  Christ  was  not  triumphant : " 
so  that  when  Constantine  advanced  to  power  under  the 
Christian  standard,  it  was  not  he  who  carried  Christianity 
to  the  ascendant,  but  Christianity  which  floated  him  to  do- 
minion. And  this  has  been  its  peculiarity  ever  since.  It 
has  ever  been  a  Kingdom  within  kingdoms,  —  a  spirit  per- 
vading nations,  but  independent  of  their  forms  or  power. 
Man  has  pretended  to  use  it,  —  has  usurped  its  holy  name 
to  cast  a  sanctity  around  his  ambition  or  his  crime :  but  it 
was  only  the  name  he  could  defile ;  the  spirit  fled  from  his 
contaminating  touch,  and  vindicated  itself  by  springing  up 
in  some  new  soil,  leaving  him  to  corruption  and  decay ! 

Another  of  its  peculiarities  was,  "that  it  should  not  be 
left  to  other  people,"  but  should  remain  forever  under  the 
headship  of  Christ.  All  other  kingdoms  descend  from 
father  to  son,  from  one  monarch  to  another,  until  they  pass 
away  and  are  forgotten.  But  this  should  ever  be  the  King- 
dom of  Christ :  should  know  no  change  in  its  Ruler ;  no 
i  1  Cor.  ii.  1,  2,  5. 

6 


82  The  Kingdom  of  Christ, 

alteration  in  its  principles ;  no  mutation  in  its  heaven- 
descended  truths.  And  how  strikingly  has  it  been  fulfilled ! 
No  matter  what  corruptions  may  have  stolen  in  upon  the 
forms  of  Christianity,  yet  is  Christ  the  Head  of  His  King- 
dom everywhere.  When  the  Papist  prostrates  himself  be- 
fore the  host,  it  is  because  he  believes  that  Christ  his  King 
is  there.  When  the  Protestant  bows  himself  at  the  Name 
of  Jesus,  it  is  because  he  worships  Him  as  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords,  and  places  Him  above  all  earthly  rulers. 
And  wherever  His  Kingdom  extends,  it  is  still  the  same. 
"  It  is  not  left  to  other  people."  It  is  His,  and  His  only  : 
His  in  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North ;  His  amid  the  palm 
groves  of  the  tropics ;  His  where  "  the  spicy  breezes  blow 
soft  o'er  Ceylon's  isle."  It  is  His,  and  His  only :  whether 
the  earthly  ruler  be  Czar,  or  Emperor,  King,  or  People. 
No  one  disputes  His  supremacy.  No  one  grasps  His  sceptre. 
Although  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  His  Father,  with 
none  on  earth  to  represent  His  royalty,  He  reigns  supreme, 
an  invisible  King,  the  Head  of  His  Church,  the  Strength 
and  Rock  of  His  people. 

Another  peculiarity  is,  that  "  it  shall  stand  for  ever : " 
not  for  time  only,  but  for  eternity.  It  is  not  only  to  outlive 
the  kingdoms  of  this  earth,  but  it  is  never  to  die !  And 
while  its  past  history  and  present  vigor  give  us  assurance 
that  it  shall  never  be  destroyed  in  time  :  its  spiritual  life, 
its  spiritual  Head,  its  connection  with  the  unchangeable, 
all  certify  us  of  its  future.  Christ,  its  King,  is  already  en- 
throned. In  the  spirit  world  is  gathering  that  multitude 
which  no  man  can  number,  of  all  kindred  and  people  and 
nations  and  tribes,  which  is  to  form  His  Kingdom.  When 
the  economy  of  grace  is  over ;  when  He  shall  have  gathered 
His  elect  from  the  four  winds  of  heaven  :  then  shall  the 
end  come ;  and  the  Church  Militant  be  changed  into  the 
Church  Triumphant ;  and  the  Temple  not  made  with  hands, 


The  Kingdom  of  Christ.  83 


eternal  iu  the  Heavens,  be  filled  with  worshippers  who  shall 
worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

It  is  this  Kingdom  which  we  ask  you  to-day  to  extend. 
It  cannot  lay  upon  you  taxes  for  its  support,  as  earthly  gov- 
ernments do  :  it  can  only  appeal  to  your  gratitude  and  your 
piety.  It  is  a  Kingdom  :  but  its  subjects  are  bound  to  it 
only  by  the  ties  of  love  and  duty.  No  coercion  is  used  to 
make  you  contribute  to  its  maintenance  or  extension.  You 
give  what  you  please,  subject  only  to  the  future  judgment 
of  God.  Your  connection  with  the  Church  Militant  is  one 
of  probation  merely.  You  are  undergoing  here  your  trial 
for  futurity  in  the  sight  and  under  the  supervision  of  God. 
If  you  fail  now  in  your  duty,  it  may  not  seem  to  affect  your 
standing  in  the  Church  of  God.  No  punishment  imme- 
diately ensues ;  no  mark  is  placed  upon  you  :  but  it  will  be 
brought  back  to  you  in  the  day  when  Christ  shall  judge  His 
people.  Under  the  Jewish  dispensation  it  was  widely  dif- 
ferent. That  was  a  spiritual  kingdom,  carried  on  upon  the 
same  principles  as  an  earthly  kingdom.  God  was  their 
King :  and  taxes  were  laid  upon  them  for  the  support  of 
His  Kingdom  and  His  Priesthood.  Specific  offerings  were 
to  be  made.  Xothing  was  to  be  received  from  Nature, 
without  the  return  of  a  certain  proportion  to  God.  A  tenth 
of  the  income  was  required  to  be  laid  upon  the  Altar  of 
their  heavenly  King.  Under  the  Christian  dispensation,  all 
this  specific  taxation  is  done  away,  —  done  away,  I  mean, 
by  the  Gospel  scheme.  Your  giving  to  God  is  now  a  work 
of  love,  —  must  spring  now  from  a  sense  of  duty.  You  are 
to  give,  as  you  receive,  —  conscientiously,  in  the  sight  of 
God;  cheerfully,  as  from  the  heart;  in  faith  that  it  will  work 
out  God's  purposes  upon  earth.  While  the  decree  has  gone 
forth  that  this  Stone,  the  Kingdom  of  the  Redeemer,  will 
become  a  mountain,  and  fill  the  whole  earth,  —  will  do  so 
whether  you  help  it  or  not,  —  still  God  watches  you  to  see 


84  The  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

if  you  take  any  part  in  the  fulfillment  of  that  decree,  —  if 
you  feel  any  interest  in  His  work  of  love.  Your  active  co- 
operation may  not  make  the  issue  any  the  more  certain ;  but 
it  testifies  your  faith  and  your  love !  Never  forget,  in  all 
your  Christian  thoughts,  that  you  are  only  educating  here. 
What  you  do,  is  of  as  little  importance  as  is  the  literary 
work  of  a  child  in  the  school-room.  But,  like  him,  you  are 
disciplining  the  heart ;  you  are  acquiring  habits  for  your 
affections ;  you  are  being  made  meet  for  the  inheritance  of 
the  saints  in  light.  Giving  is  a  part  of  this  learning.  It 
represses  selfishness ;  it  cultivates  gratitude ;  it  enkindles 
love ;  it  unites  us  more  closely  with  God,  through  His  great 
work  of  Redemption  which  we  are  helping  to  speed  forward. 
Whether  we  give  or  not,  the  Church  will  go  forward  :  but 
we  shall  have  no  place  in  the  triumph.  "  The  Lord  know- 
eth  them  that  are  His  : "  and  when  He  comes  to  judge,  and 
to  reward,  He  will  place  the  crown  of  glory  upon  those  who 
have  been  faithful  in  life,  and  unto  death. 


jfttnt^  Sermon. 

But  go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be :  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and 
stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days.  — Daniel  xii.  13. 

A  T  the  close  of  that  series  of  magnificent  and  far-reach- 
ing  prophecies  which  make  up  the  book  of  Daniel,  we 
find  him  asking  "  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  was 
upon  the  waters  of  the  river," — him  who  had  been  the 
instrument  of  communicating  to  him  the  foreordinations 
of  God :  "  0  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  end  of  these 
things  ? "  The  prophet  had  heard,  but  understood  not. 
Touched  by  the  Divine  Hand  he  had  communicated  to  the 
ear  of  the  world  the  arrangements  of  God's  will ;  but,  like 
an  instrument  played  upon,  he  had  not  comprehended  his 
own  harmony :  and  restive,  as  human  nature  always  will  be, 
under  this  condition  of  things,  he  asks  that  he  may  be  per- 
mitted to  see  as  well  as  to  believe,  —  to  penetrate  the  myste- 
ries of  the  future,  as  well  as  to  proclaim  them.  An  answer 
comes  to  him,  solemn  and  instructive,  of  which  my  text 
forms  the  conclusion :  "  The  words  are  closed  up  and  sealed 

till  the  time  of  the  end   But  go  thou  thy  way  till 

the  end  be  :  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the 
end  of  the  days." 

This  seems  to  be  very  hard,  this  duty  of  the  Christian,  to 
be  always  laboring,  and  never  seeing  the  fruit  of  that  labor ; 
to  be  the  instrument  of  God's  dealings,  and  yet  be  obliged 
to  wait  until  the  end  before  we  can  comprehend  them  :  but 
it  has  ever  been  the  lot  of  the  faithful.    "  The  just  shall 


86    Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days. 

live  by  faith " :  and  it  has  never  been  otherwise  at  any 
period  of  the  Church's  history.  The  work  of  the  Christian, 
in  his  day  and  generation,  has  always  been  as  much  for 
those  who  were  to  come  after,  as  for  himself.  S.  Peter 
tells  us  that  when  the  prophets  who  prophesied  of  the  grace 
that  should  come  unto  the  world,  inquired  and  searched 
diligently  into  that  salvation,  "  it  was  revealed  "  unto  them, 
"  that  not  unto  themselves,  but  unto  us  they  did  minister 
the  things  which  are  now  reported  unto  you  by  them  that 
have  preached  the  Gospel  unto  you." 1  And  Daniel  passed 
through  this  trial,  in  common  with  all  his  fellow  prophets. 
Distinguished,  as  he  was,  for  holiness  and  for  wisdom,  so 
that  he  is  twice  selected  in  the  Book  of  Ezekiel  to  be  placed 
in  the  very  highest  rank  of  the  faithful ;  given,  as  he  was, 
the  power  of  looking  into  dark  and  hidden  things,  so  that 
he  not  only  gave  the  interpretation  of  dreams,  but  evoked 
the  dreams  themselves,  when  they  had  been  forgotten,  out 
of  the  shadowy  realms  of  night;  honored,  as  he  was,  to 
declare  to  the  world  its  whole  extended  future,  until  it  was 
lost  in  the  abyss  of  Eternity  :  God  placed  him  upon  no  dif- 
ferent footing  from  that  of  his  other  prophets ;  nay,  upon  no 
different  footing  from  any  one  of  ourselves,  restricting  him 
to  the  simple  faith  and  patience  of  the  Saints,  and  bid- 
ding him  wait  until  the  end  should  be.  Enough  for  thee, 
0  man,  is  it,  that  thou  shouldst  be  permitted  to  work  for 
God,  and  then  to  take  thy  rest,  satisfied  to  ' 6  stand  in  thy 
lot  at  the  end  of  the  days." 

How  hard  it  is  to  learn  this  lesson  of  Christian  experi- 
ence ;  —  to  understand  that  we  have  a  work  to  do,  some- 
times of  active  labor,  sometimes  of  patient  suffering :  and 
that  when  it  is  done,  we  are  to  go  our  way,  and  take  our 
rest  in  the  grave,  and  receive  our  reward  in  eternity.  We 
are  so  much  accustomed,  in  the  affairs  of  every-day  life,  to 
1 1  S.  Peter  i.  12. 


» 


Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days.  87 

look  for  immediate  results,  that  we  cannot  be  satisfied  with 
our  labor,  if  we  have  to  wait  for  its  fruits,  —  that  we  are 
impatient  at  an  obedience  which  requires  us  to  be  led  by  a 
guiding  hand,  and  not  by  the  light  of  our  own  eyes.  We 
are  always  for  asking,  "  0  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  end 
of  these  things  ?  "  instead  of  living  in  our  work,  and  find- 
ing our  spiritual  peace  in  that.  And  so  we  fritter  our  years 
away,  seeking  for  light  and  comfort  in  some  imaginary 
end :  while  God  intends  us  to  wring  them  out  of  our  daily 
toil,  leaving  the  ultimate  reward  with  Him.  Could  this  be 
truly  understood,  how  much  happiness  would  spring  up 
around  our  earthly  homes  ;  how  much  light  would  be 
shed  upon  our  Christian  path !  It  would  sanctify  our  most 
irksome  duties,  and  pour  the  oil  of  consolation  over  our 
severest  sufferings.  Instead  of  writhing  under  our  allotted 
tasks,  because  we  think  them  disagreeable,  or  unsuited,  or 
trifling,  —  because  they  weary  us  with  their  monotony,  or 
disgust  us  with  their  vulgarity ;  we  should  feel  that  they 
have  been  appointed  of  God  for  our  discipline  and  our  duty : 
and,  while  we  labored  faithfully  in  them,  would  leave  it 
with  God  to  weave  these  seeming  trifles  into  harmony  with 
His  glorious  and  comprehensive  purposes. 

What  have  we  to  do  with  results?  No  more  than  the 
workman  in  some  great  manufactory,  who,  seated  at  his 
bench,  labors  clay  after  day  upon  that  particular  portion  of 
the  fabric  which  has  been  allotted  to  him.  It  may  be 
very  wearisome  to  him,  nay  very  painful  to  him,  thus  to 
sit,  through  his  whole  life,  doing  that  one  thing ;  and 
yet,  if  he  do  it  well  and  faithfully,  however  trifling  it  may 
be,  he  is  conducing  essentially  to  the  grand  result,  and 
receives  for  it  the  reward  of  his  toil,  and  the  "  well 
done  !  "  of  the  master.  And  we  can  well  understand  how 
his  uninformed  mind  and  his  limited  view  may  not  per- 
ceive the  connection  between  his  labor  and  the  perfected 


88    Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days. 

manufacture;  while  yet  the  master-mind,  which  has  ar- 
ranged and  regulates  the  whole,  shall  see  that  it  is  essen- 
tial to  the  completeness  of  the  work.  How  much  happier 
for  that  workman  to  do  cheerfully  each  day  his  necessary 
labor,  and  to  find  pleasure  and  hope  in  doing  it,  than  to 
rise  up  in  rebellion  against  the  arrangement  of  things,  and 
murmur  at  his  allotted  task,  or  refuse  to  perform  it,  be- 
cause he  cannot  see —  which  it  is  no  business  of  his  to  see 
—  how  it  is  conducing  to  the  grand  design !  And  this  is 
just  our  position.  We  are  all  workmen,  busily  employed  in 
carrying  to  perfection  the  glorious  purposes  of  God,  —  those 
purposes  which  shall  have  their  consummation  at  the  time 
of  the  end.  Each  one  of  us  has  his  appointed  work  ;  and, 
although  it  may  seem  to  us  trifling  or  wearisome,  it  is 
couducing  to  the  perfectness  of  the  Divine  Work,  and  is  a 
thread  in  the  wonderful  tissue  which  our  Heavenly  Master 
is  weaving  for  Eternity.  Our  Christian  duty  is  to  do  our 
part  well ;  to  labor  faithfully  in  that  sphere  wherein  God  has 
placed  us ;  to  bear  with  cheerfulness  the  burdens  which 
may  be  laid  upon  us  :  and  not  to  be  stubborn,  nor  wayward, 
because  we  cannot  work  at  just  what  we  please,  nor  under- 
stand how  what  we  are  doing  is  the  necessary  complement 
of  a  Divine  harmony.  Our  great  error  is,  that  we  do  not 
rise  up,  as  we  should,  to  a  clear  perception  either  of  the 
wisdom  or  the  love  of  our  Heavenly  Father.  We  say  con- 
tinually, in  our  public  and  in  our  private  prayer,  "  Our 
Father,  which  art  in  Heaven  "  :  but  never  realize  what  that 
word  "  Father  "  means.  We  forget  His  presence  and  His 
care.  We  ascribe  to  a  blind  Chance,  what  has  been  all 
arranged  by  Him.  We  murmur  against  man,  and  for- 
tune; and  remember  not  that  man  and  fortune  are  but 
His  instruments.  Oh,  my  hearers,  if  we  are  indeed  His 
children,  —  if  we  can  lift  our  eyes  to  Heaven,  and  say  with 
true  filial  reverence,  "  Our  Father 99 :  we  may  rest  assured 


Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days,  89 

that  our  work,  and  the  way  in  which  we  are  compelled  to 
do  it,  and  the  sufferings  through  which  we  pass  in  doing  it, 
are  just  the  very  hest  for  us ;  and  even  though  we  may  not 
be  able  to  see  what  is  the  meaning  of  our  experience,  nor 
how  our  poor  weak  work  can  help  along  His  mighty  pur- 
poses :  when  it  is  all  finished,  we  shall  receive  no  worse  a 
dismissal  than  his  mightiest  prophet :  "  Go  thou  thy  way 
till  the  end  be  :  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at 
the  end  of  the  days." 

The  work  of  life  is  very  wearisome,  even  when  we  feel 
that  it  is  allotted  us  by  our  Father.  I  do  not  speak  now  of 
that  holiday  life  which  too  many  lead,  —  taking  their  por- 
tion in  this  world  ;  but  of  that  life  of  duty  and  of  responsi- 
bility which  God  has  placed  us  here  to  live.  It  is  very 
wearisome  to  be  ever  schooling  and  disciplining  one's  self ; 
very  wearisome  to  be  contending  against  natural  infirmities 
and  besetting  sins ;  very  wearisome  to  be  swimming  against 
the  world's  current ;  very  wearisome  to  be  guiding  and  con- 
trolling those  who  are  committed  to  our  charge.  But  then 
it  is  the  work  which  God  has  assigned  us,  and  we  must 
search  for  the  blessedness  which  He  has  wrapped  up  with 
the  toil.  And  we  can  find  it  even  here,  in  the  very  dust 
and  turmoil  of  the  battle-field,  amid  the  commonplace 
cares  and  anxieties  of  life,  in  its  severest  duties  and  crud- 
est sufferings,  if  we  will  live  in  the  means  instead  of  look- 
ing to  the  end  ;  —  if  we  will  search  for  life  and  comfort  in 
the  thought  that  all  these  things,  —  the  most  trifling  and 
the  commonest,  the  most  solemn  and  the  sternest,  —  are 
our  part  of  God's  work,  and  are  conducing  to  His  divinest 
end.  How  changed  is  the  whole  aspect  of  life,  if  looked  at 
from  this  point  of  view  !  What  before  was  trivial  and  un- 
important waxes  into  greatness,  so  soon  as  it  becomes  con- 
nected with  the  purposes  of  God.  What  was  bitter  and 
loathsome  is  deprived  of  its  sting,  when  we  find  it  a  link  in 


90    Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days. 

the  chain  of  God's  glorious  love.  So  long  as  we  are  looking 
to  self,  —  to  that  connection  which  our  lives  may  be  hold- 
ing with  things  around  us,  —  we  can  find  no  comfort ;  for 
there  is  a  crook  in  every  lot,  a  skeleton  in  every  house  :  but 
when  we  can  look  away  to  God,  and  realize  that  our  work, 
our  condition,  our  sufferings,  are  all  from  Him  and  of  Him  ; 
are  not  things  of  caprice,  or  of  fortune,  but  of  His  fatherly 
appointment ;  are  not  unnecessary  and  useless,  working 
sorrow  to  us  while  they  work  good  to  nobody,  but  are  essen- 
tial parts  of  His  mighty  and  incomprehensible  will :  we 
change  the  crook  into  a  source  of  blessing,  we  clothe  the 
very  skeleton  with  a  divine  halo,  and  we  sing  songs  of  glad- 
ness even  in  the  night.  This  is  the  true  charm  of  life,  — 
to  find  our  happiness  in  our  work  ;  not  to  be  looking  for  it 
in  the  future,  but  in  the  present ;  not  to  expect  it  to  come 
only  out  of  great  things,  or  out  of  prosperous  things,  but 
to  woo  it  from  our  commonest  every-day  occupations,  and 
to  snatch  it  from  the  stern  grasp  of  adversity.  If  we  sep- 
arate happiness  from  our  daily  and  our  present  work,  we 
are  turning  it  away  from  our  homes,  and  reserving  it  for 
seasons  of  excitement,  or  for  a  distant  future  which  is 
always  rising  —  like  the  horizon  —  as  we  approach  it.  The 
true  peace  of  the  Christian  here  on  earth  is  in  doing  every 
thing,  and  suffering  every  thing,  as  a  part  of  the  work  he 
is  appointed  to  finish.  In  this  view  all  responsibility  is 
rolled  from  him,  because  he  is  a  mere  instrument  in  God's 
almighty  hand;  all  murmuring  is  hushed,  because  he  could 
not  change  his  work  without  an  interference  with  God's 
omniscient  wisdom ;  all  anxiety  is  put  to  rest,  because  his 
business  is  only  to  do  or  suffer,  and  leave  the  consequences 
to  God. 

This  is  the  Christian's  happiness  in  life,  —  his  only  hap- 
piness. But  the  time  will  come,  when  that  work  shall  be 
done  \  when  the  books  shall  be  sealed  unto  the  end ;  when 


Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days.  91 

the  command  shall  come  to  each  one  of  us,  "  Go  thy  way 
till  the  end  be  :  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at 
the  end  of  the  days."  The  time  of  work  is  over ;  the  sun 
has  set  upon  our  day  of  labor ;  the  hour  of  rest  is  come  : 
and  the  Christian  is  given  that  blessedness,  —  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  transition  state  from  the  work  of  earth  to  the 
work  of  Heaven.  Oh  the  sweetness  of  that  word  Best!  — 
to  cease  from  all  the  weariness  of  life ;  to  be  done  with  its 
cares,  its  perplexities,  its  miseries ;  to  have  fought  the  good 
fight  of  faith,  and  ended  the  struggle ;  to  have  finished  the 
work  which  God  has  given  us  to  do,  and  now  to  lie  down 
and  be  at  peace !  But  none  can  enjoy  it  who  have  not 
labored.  The  self-indulgent  know  not  what  it  means.  It 
belongs  only  to  the  workman,  —  to  him  who  has  borne  the 
heat  and  burden  of  the  day !  "  There  remaineth  a  rest  for 
the  people  of  God."  1  And  why  for  them  ?  Because  God's 
people  are  expected  to  be  a  working  people,  —  working  for 
their  own  salvation,  working  for  the  salvation  of  others  ;  be- 
cause they  are  expected  to  be  a  struggling  people,  —  strug- 
gling against  their  own  natures,  and  their  indwelling  cor- 
ruption ;  because  they  are  expected  to  be  a  warring  people, 
warring  against  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  Devil.  For 
such  it  is,  —  the  true  members  of  the  Church  Militant 
upon  earth,  —  that  there  remaineth  a  rest :  for  they  need 
it,  they  desire  it,  they  deserve  it.  The  Psalmist  expressed 
it  when,  in  the  weariness  of  his  struggles,  he  cried  :  "  Oh, 
that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove  !  for  then  would  I  fly  away, 
and  be  at  rest."  2  "  I  would  hasten  my  escape  from  the 
windy  storm  and  tempest."  3  S.  Paul  expressed  it  when, 
aged  and  battered,  he  exulted  in  his  approaching  end  :  "  For 
I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure 
is  at  hand.  1  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith :  henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
1  Heb.  iv.  9.  2  Psalm  lv.  6.  3  Ibid.  8. 


92    Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days, 

for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness." 1  S.  John  proclaimed  it 
as  an  utterance  from  Heaven,  when  he  said :  "  I  heard  a 
voice  from  Heaven,  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed  are 
the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  :  Yea,,  saith 
the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors ;  and  their 
works  do  follow  them." 2  And  these  expressions  come 
home  to  the  heart  of  every  struggling  Christian.  He  feels 
that  rest  is  what  he  craves  ;  —  rest  from  sin,  rest  from  war- 
fare, rest  from  responsibility,  rest  from  temptation,  rest 
from  the  solemn  work  of  life  :  and  God  gives  him  the  boon 
when  He  dismisses  him  from  his  post :  "  Go  thy  way  till 
the  end  be.  Thou  hast  finished  thine  allotted  task :  now 
thou  shalt  rest.  Go  sleep  in  the  grave,  faithful  warrior ; 
when  the  end  of  the  days  shall  come,  then  shalt  thou 
awake,  like  a  strong  man  from  sleep,  and  stand  in  thy 
lot !  " 

And  this  is  the  blessedness  of  Eternity  !  The  Christian 
has  had  happiness  in  his  work,  rest  after  his  work,  and  now 
shall  he  have  reward  for  his  work.  "  He  shall  stand  in  his 
lot  in  the  end  of  the  days."  He  had  on  earth  his  allotted 
labor,  and  he  shall  now  have  in  Heaven  his  allotted  reward. 
The  same  loving  Lord  who  meted  out  the  toil  and  the  suf- 
fering of  the  world,  will  mete  out  the  joy  and  the  glory  of 
his  Father's  mansions.  All  has  been  arranged  for  Eternity ; 
all  has  been  watched  and  guided  through  Time :  and  now 
shall  it  be  made  perfect  in  God  Himself.  The  Christian 
lived  by  faith ;  was  permitted  to  see  nothing  but  his  work  ; 
was  taught  obedience,  and  submission,  and  humility,  and 
patience ;  was  made  perfect  through  sufferings ;  toiled  on, 
fought  on,  resting  in  nothing  but  promises,  yet  seeing  God 
in  every  thing :  and  now  faith  is  swallowed  up  in  sight,  and 
mystery  in  knowledge,  and  he  can  see  how  every  thing 
worked  together  for  good.  Until  he  stands  in  his  lot,  he 
1  2  Tim.  iv.  6-8.  2  Rev.  xiv.  13. 


Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days.  93 

could  not  comprehend  the  work  upon  earth  which  was  pre- 
paring him  for  it ;  until  he  enters  upon  the  inheritance  of 
Heaven,  he  could  not  understand  the  training  which  was 
making  him  meet  for  it.  The  one  is  the  complement  of  the 
other.  God  saw  them  both  from  the  beginning,  and  fitted 
them  one  for  the  other.  Man  could  see  only  the  work,  and 
had  therefore  to  do  it  in  Faith :  until  God  introduces  him 
to  the  other,  and  manifests  the  glorious  harmony. 

And  as  it  is  with  our  individual  work  upon  earth,  so  is 
it  with  the  Church's  work.  The  Church  is  an  aggregate 
of  Christian  people  ;  and  when  they  move  and  act  in  a  mass, 
they  move  and  act  upon  the  same  principles  as  the  individ- 
ual. The  Church  has  its  appointed  work,  —  a  work  given 
it  by  Christ,  its  Head,  through  those  who  were  its  earliest 
representatives  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature." 1  And  the  Church  has  no  more 
right  than  the  individual  to  ask,  "  0  my  Lord,  what  shall 
be  the  end  of  these  things  ?  "  The  Church  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  end,  save  to  work  for  it.  That  belongs  to  God. 
If  He  pleases  that  the  Missionary  labor  of  the  Church 
should  seem  to  be  spent  for  nought ;  if  it  is  His  will  —  and 
His  will  is  signified  by  His  command  —  that  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  shall  be  the  seed  of  His  Church ;  if  it  is  help- 
ing on  His  purposes  that  Missionaries  shall  go  out  to  their 
places  of  toil  simply  to  die  :  He  knows  better  than  we  do, 
for  His  eye  scans  the  whole  field  of  battle,  and  sees  the  end 
from  the  beginning.  The  duty  of  a  soldier  is  simple,  un- 
questioning obedience,  —  to  do  whatsoever  he  is  ordered, 
whether  to  advance  boldly,  or  retreat  wisely,  or  stand  in  his 
post  of  honor  and  be  shot  down.  Many  a  battle  has  been 
won  upon  earth  by  iron-hearted  endurance.  Napoleon 
gained  the  victory  at  Wagram,  and  Wellington  at  Water- 
loo, by  permitting  a  portion  of  their  troops  to  be  cut  to 

1  S.  Mark  xvi.  15. 


94    Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days. 

pieces  in  their  positions.  To  those  who  suffered,  it  seemed 
a  cruel  fate  merely  to  stand  and  die :  but  those  master- 
minds, whose  comprehensive  glance  took  in  the  whole  field 
of  vision,  saw  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  few  was  necessary 
for  the  victory  of  the  whole.  Those  well-trained,  disci- 
plined soldiers  trusted  in  their  commander,  faithfully  be- 
lieved that  no  useless  sacrifice  was  made  of  them,  bravely 
offered  up  their  lives  for  the  cause's  sake :  and  shall  Chris- 
tian soldiers,  the  conscripts  of  the  Cross,  falter  in  their 
obedience  when  such  a  voice  as  God's,  and  such  a  wisdom 
as  God's,  utters  His  command :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  ?  "  He  does  not 
say  what  shall  be  the  end  of  your  obedience,  what  its  re- 
sults, or  what  its  success :  He  merely  charges  you  to  do 
it.  He  gives  the  Church  her  work.  He  does  not  ask  her 
to  crown  that  work,  but  merely  to  do  it.  It  is  no  matter 
whether  she  sees  no  fruit  of  her  work.  Her  life  is  not  a 
life  of  sight,  but  of  faith.  Still  must  she  continue  to  do  it. 
No  matter  whether  generation  after  generation  of  her  chil- 
dren pass  away  and  go  to  their  rest  without  any  recompense 
to  sight :  still  must  she  continue  to  do  it.  When  Abraham 
was  called  to  go  out  of  his  own  country,  and  leave  his  kin- 
dred, that  he  might  possess  the  Land  of  Promise,  he  went ; 
and  died  without  any  signs  of  its  fulfilment.  And  Isaac 
died,  and  went  his  way  to  his  rest.  And  Jacob  died,  and 
went  his  way  to  his  rest.  And  Joseph  died,  and  went  his 
way  to  his  rest.  And  generation  after  generation  died, 
and  went  their  way  to  their  rest.  Then  came  long  years 
of  weary  bondage :  but,  at  the  end  of  the  days,  Abra- 
ham's children  stood  in  their  lot !  This  record  of  faith  is 
given  us  for  our  example  ;  and  not  this  alone,  but  the  his- 
tory, all  along,  of  the  Church.  It  treads  an  equal  path. 
It  never  offers  any  thing  to  sight.  Its  unchanging  princi- 
ple is,  as  generation  after  generation  finishes  its  work  :  "  Go 


Daniel  in  his  Lot  at  the  End  of  the  Days.  95 

thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be  :  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and  stand 
in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days." 

And  what,  my  beloved  people,  is  the  duty  of  every  age  of 
the  Church,  is  our  duty.  The  command  of  our  Saviour  is 
unrepealed.  It  stands  there  in  all  its  imperative  force,  now, 
to-day,  as  when  the  Apostles  first  received  it.  If  it  were 
right  to  encourage  you  by  what  should  never  be  your  motive 
of  action,  I  might  point  you  to  much  in  the  world  that 
looked  favorable  to  the  growth  of  Christianity;  but  I  re- 
frain, because  I  desire  you  to  stand  upon  the  one  unchange- 
able principle  of  obedience  to  Christ's  commaud.  If  every 
thing  was  as  dark  and  dreary  as  midnight;  if  the  gates  of 
the  nations  seemed  barred  and  double-barred  against  the 
admission  of  our  Missionaries ;  if  storm  and  darkness  raged 
around  the  battlements  of  Zion  :  it  would  be  none  the  less 
our  duty  to  send  forth  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy.  Our 
preachers  might  uever  reach  their  fields  of  labor ;  might 
only  reach  them,  to  knock  and  be  refused  admittance ; 
might  be  let  in,  only  to  be  slaughtered  :  still  have  we  done 
our  work,  and  must  continue  to  do  it !  Results,  success, 
have  nothing  to  do  with  our  duty.  "We  cannot  tell  how 
necessary  this  darkness,  this  hindrance,  this  slaughter,  may 
be.  That  is  not  for  us  to  judge.  We  must  do  our  work  as 
a  generation  of  the  Church's  children  ;  and,  when  we  have 
done  it,  be  satisfied  with  nothing  more  than  this  :  "  Go 
thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be  :  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and  stand 
in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days." 


Cent!)  Sermon. 


For  who  knoweth  what  is  good  for  man  in  this  life,  all  the 
days  of  his  vain  life  which  he  spendeth  as  a  shadow.  —  Eccle- 

SIASTES  Vi.  12. 

nnHE  history  of  a  man  is  very  distinct  from  the  life  of  a 


man,  —  that  outside  portraiture  which  a  biographer 
gives,  from  that  inward  experience  which  is  known  only  to 
himself  and  God.  What  appears  on  the  surface  in  the 
shape  of  action,  is  all  that  is  manifest  to  the  world.  The 
deep  uuder-current  of  motive  and  feeling,  of  weariuess  and 
disgust,  of  repentance  and  remorse,  remains  forever  secret, 
unless  the  barriers  of  the  heart  be  broken  down  by  the 
weight  which  presses  upon  it,  and  it  is  poured  forth  for  the 
warning  or  the  benefit  of  others.  Every  honest  diary  of  the 
heart-life  of  a  human  creature  is  a  precious  document  for 
man ;  sometimes  because  of  the  true  value  of  the  world 
which  it  sets  before  him,  sometimes  because  of  the  dangers 
against  which  it  guards  him,  sometimes  because  of  the 
comfort  which  it  affords  him.  "As  in  water  face  answereth 
to  face,  so  the  heart  of  man  to  man :  " 1  and  when  an  hon- 
est heart  is  truthfully  opened  with  all  its  rich  and  sad  de- 
velopments, we  read  as  it  were  our  own  hidden  life,  and  are 
startled  at  its  portraiture  of  ourselves,  just  as  the  Samaritan 
woman  was  when  Christ  told  her  all  that  ever  she  did.  We 
have  dreamed  perhaps  that  our  experience  was  our  own, 
that  it  was  a  thing  of  individuality,  that  no  one  else  had 
ever  travelled  just  such  a  road,  had  walked  in  the  deep 


1  Prov.  xxvii.  19. 


The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life.  97 

shadow  of  weariness  and  satiety  when  the  skies  were  bright 
over  us  and  the  flowers  seemed  to  grow  in  our  path,  had 
been  weighed  down  by  a  sense  of  the  utter  vanity  of  all 
things  earthly  when  others  were  enjoying  our  lot,  had 
mourned  in  bitterness  of  spirit  over  words  and  acts  which 
others  applauded  and  imitated  :  and  lo  !  another  heart 
speaks,  and  tells  our  inner  life  as  its  own,  and  lays  bare 
before  the  world  all  our  secrets,  and  anatomizes  for  the 
gaze  of  mankind  all  that  was  most  hidden  and  sacred 
within  ourselves.  Well  is  it  for  us  if  we  will  learn  from 
the  experience  of  another  ;  and,  taking  the  chart  which 
another  has  sketched  of  the  ocean  of  life,  steer  wisely  and 
thoughtfully  through  all  its  dangers  and  treacheries  and 
false  appearances,  into  that  haven  of  rest  which  is  offered 
to  the  prudent  and  the  faithful. 

How  strikingly  are  these  remarks  exemplified  by  the  two 
aspects  under  which  Solomon  is  presented  to  us  in  the 
Bible.  Were  we  to  form  our  judgment  of  him  from  the 
historical  books  of  the  Bible,  we  should  conceive  of  him  as 
a  monarch  of  surpassing  wisdom  and  power,  living  proudly, 
haughtily,  luxuriously,  magnificently  :  surrounding  himself 
with  every  enjoyment  which  life  could  give,  and  interested 
only  in  matters  of  state,  or  art,  or  literature.  We  read  of 
him  there  as  extending'  the  limits  of  his  king'dom  from 
Egypt  to  the  Euphrates,  and  from  the  Great  Sea  to  the  bor- 
ders of  Arabia ;  as  adorning  Jerusalem  with  palaces,  and  a 
Temple  of  surpassing  preciousness ;  as  receiving  homage 
from  nations  and  monarchs  of  remote  and  almost  unknown 
regions ;  as  promoting  commerce  and  trade  beyond  all  for- 
mer precedent ;  as  winning  admiration  by  his  wisdom  and 
his  knowledge;  as  floating  in  an  atmosphere  of  sensual  en- 
joyment of  the  most  Oriental  cast.  This  is  the  Solomon 
of  history.  But  how  different  is  the  Solomon  of  the  Prov- 
7 


98  The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life. 

erbs  and  of  Ecclesiastes  !  How  the  mask  falls  off  when  we 
follow  him  into  his  secret  chambers,  and  watch  him  as  he 
lays  aside  his  robes  of  state  and  his  aspect  of  dignity  and 
his  assumption  of  enjoyment,  and  listen  to  the  deep  sighs 
which  bnrst  from  his  wearied  heart,  and  witness  the  tears 
of  repentance  which  course  their  furrows  down  his  cheeks, 
and  learn  his  honest  judgment  of  himself  and  human  life  ! 
The  one  is  the  true  and  proper  complement  of  the  other,  — 
the  inner  life  laid  bare  as  the  commentary  upon  the  outer. 
And  herein  lay  Solomon's  wisdom,  —  that  wisdom  which 
God  had  given  him.  He  was  the  wisest  man  the  world  has 
known,  not  because  he  was  a  consummate  statesman,  and  an 
acute  philosopher,  and  knew  all  Nature's  secrets  :  but  be- 
cause he  gauged  all  this  at  its  true  value ;  and  when  he  had 
flashed  it  in  the  eyes  of  an  unthinking  multitude,  was  hon- 
est enough  to  inscribe  upon  it,  "  Vanity  of  vanities  ;  all  is 
vanity;"  —  was  true  enough  to  his  own  nature  and  his 
common  humanity,  to  record  his  own  deep  sense  of  his  in- 
firmities, and  his  disgust!  And  when,  my  hearers,  you 
would  judge  the  character  of  this  wise  monarch,  you  must 
combine  the  two  aspects  of  his  life,  and  remember  that  God 
saw  all  the  secret  workings  of  his  heart,  its  sense  of  vanity, 
its  heavy  weariness,  its  deep  contempt  of  outward  show,  its 
repentance  and  remorse,  as  well  as  the  pomp  and  luxury 
which  were  open  to  the  world.  God  knows  that  station  and 
office  and  rank  require  of  men  ofttimes  what  their  own  con- 
science disapproves:  but  God  alone  sees  the  sorrow  it  in- 
flicts, and  hears  the  groans  which  are  uttered  heavenward 
for  forgiveness  and  for  peace.  Blessed  be  God  that  He  has 
given  us  one  honest  Book  in  which  we  may  see  our  fellow- 
creatures  as  they  are,  and  learn  what  wretched  inconsis- 
tencies God  can  endure,  what  a  mass  of  infirmity  and  weak- 
ness God  can  forgive.    But  for  this,  a  faithful  reading  of 


The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life,  99 

our  own  hearts  would  drive  us  to  despair,  and  force  us  to 
the  question  of  S.  Paul :  "  0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who 
shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  Death  ?  "  1 

It  is  among  the  wailings  of  this  wise  king  that  we  en- 
counter the  sad  confession  of  ignorance  which  we  have 
selected  for  our  text :  "  For  who  knoweth  what  is  good  for 
man  in  this  life,  all  the  days  of  his  vain  life  which  he 
spendeth  as  a  shadow  ?  "  What  an  accumulation  of  epi- 
thets and  figures  to  express  his  deep  sense  of  man's  pitiful 
condition  !  Vain  life,  spent  as  a  shadow !  All  of  it  spent 
so,  —  promising  and  not  performing,  alluring  and  deceiv- 
ing, weaving  bright  webs  of  hope  only  as  snares  and 
meshes  !  — and  mingled  with  all  this,  a  profound  obscurity 
as  to  the  blessing  or  the  curse  of  every  movement,  as  to 
the  good  or  the  evil  of  every  possession.  Words  could  not 
express  a  more  forlorn  prospect,  especially  when  we  remem- 
ber that  it  was  uttered  by  one  for  whom  life  had  displayed 
its  most  flattering  visage,  —  around  whose  brows  had  been 
wreathed  the  proudest  chaplets  of  knowledge  and  of  wis- 
dom. If  he,  with  his  penetratiag  and  all-pervading  wis- 
dom, knew  not  what  was  good  for  man,  who  might  expect 
to  know  it  ?  If  he  counted  all  the  days  of  man's  life  as 
days  of  vanity,  when  every  enjoyment  of  earth  was  his :  who 
might  look  for  satisfaction  in  the  days  of  the  years  of  his 
pilgrimage  ?  Sad  sentence  inscribed  by  honesty  and  wisdom 
upon  the  life  we  are  now  living !  Sad  shadow  cast  by  Truth 
oyer  the  path  which  the  young,  the  gay,  the  ambitious, 
the  sensual,  the  wise,  are  now  treading  !  "  Press  on  !  "  — 
is  its  sad  accompaniment  as  the  eager  train  comes  sweeping 
by  — "  but  alas !  ye  know  not  whether  the  good  ye  are 
seeking  may  not  turn  to  ashes  in  your  hands  and  bitterness 
in  your  hearts ;  —  whether  the  evil  ye  are  lamenting  may 
not  be  the  jewel  in  the  head  of  adversity  and  affliction." 

1  Rom.  vii.  24. 


ioo  The  Vanity  of  Eartkly  Life, 

God  alone  knoweth  what  is  good  for  man,  and  what  is  evil 
for  man :  and  the  sooner  ye  commit  yourselves  to  His  om- 
niscient guidance,  the  sooner  shall  ye  experience  the  peace 
of  a  child  under  the  guidance  of  its  Father,  the  confidence 
of  a  voyager  under  the  direction  of  his  unchanging  star. 

The  wisdom  of  the  Greek,  who  answered,  "  that  no  one 
could  he  reckoned  happy  until  his  life  was  closed,"  was 
founded  upon  a  dim  perception  of  the  truth  uttered  in  my 
text.  I  say  a  dim  perception,  for  the  philosopher  was 
only  looking  to  the  uncertainty  of  human  affairs,  and  the 
instability  of  fortune :  while  Solomon  was  embracing  a 
larger  compass,  and  affirming  man's  ignorance  of  what  was 
good  for  him  and  what  was  evil,  without  any  regard  to  its 
permanence  or  its  frailty.  And  it  is  this  feature  in  my 
text  which  makes  it  so  sad, — that  darkness  is  around  the 
path  of  life ;  that  ignorance  hangs  like  a  pall  over  the 
results  of  our  actions,  our  pursuits,  and  our  hopes.  It  is 
cruel  enough  to  be  so  often  disappointed,  to  be  so  long 
laboriously  rolling  the  stone  up  the  steep  ascent,  to  be 
thirsting  so  many  weary  years  with  the  fountain  always 
glittering  before  our  eyes  :  but  how  much  more  cruel  to  be 
told,  as  you  rush  along  in  eager  and  rapt  pursuit,  that  even 
should  you  reach  the  summit  with  your  burden,  you  might 
find  a  cold,  thin  atmosphere  of  oppressive  misery;  —  that 
even  should  you  slake  your  parched  lips  and  craving  heart 
in  the  waters  you  have  sought,  you  might  find  them  bitter 
to  the  taste  and  unsatisfying  to  the  soul.  And  this  is  just 
what  the  wise  monarch  tells  us  is  our  condition,  —  that  no 
man  knoweth  what  is  good  for  man  in  this  life ;  that  we  all 
play  our  game  in  the  dark ;  and  that  all  the  fondest  objects 
of  man's  desire  wear  a  double  face  of  good  or  evil,  accord- 
ing to  God's  arrangements.  It  is  not  therefore  merely  a 
lesson  of  the  uncertainty  of  human  possessions,  of  the  in- 
stability and  vanity  of  earthly  pursuits,  that  the  sacred 


The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life.  101 

writer  is  teaching-  you  :  but  a  more  striking  lessou  of  man's 
ignorance  and  dependence.  The  object  may  be  won,  the 
goal  may  be  reached,  the  prize  may  be  grasped :  but  is  it 
for  g"ood  or  for  eyil  ?  —  for  blessing  or  for  curse '? 

And  whether  we  look  at  this  truth  with  the  eye  of  expe- 
rience, or  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  we  reach  the 
same  conclusion.  If  man's  earthly  condition  be  considered, 
and  that  alone,  it  would  be  very  hard  to  say  whether  the 
objects  of  his  pursuit  brought  more  good  or  more  evil  to 
him  and  his,  even  when  most  successfully  achieved.  Is 
constant  toil,  is  incessant  care,  is  weighing  every  word  and 
action,  is  reckoning  every  cent,  is  sealing  the  fountains  of 
charity,  is  hardening  the  face  and  the  heart,  is  rearing  a 
family  of  idlers,  is  introducing  luxury  and  indolence  and 
vice  into  your  domestic  circle,  good :  and  yet  these  are  the 
most  usual  results  which  follow  an  ardent  pursuit  and  suc- 
cessful attainment  of  wealth.  Can  man  know  what  is 
good,  when  he  spends  his  days  and  nights  for  consequences 
like  these  ?  Is  a  brow  wrinkled  with  thought,  is  a  head 
whitened  with  care,  is  a  family  neglected,  is  a  home  for- 
saken, is  a  surrender  of  individual  independence,  is  an 
accumulation  of  envy  and  slander  and  calumny,  is  unceas- 
ing abuse  and  misrepresentation,  is  the  unsteady  footing 
of  a  fluctuating  multitude,  good:  and  yet  these  are  the 
fruits  which  the  ambitious  reap,  when  they  devote  them- 
selves to  the  pursuit  of  power.  Can  man  know  what 
is  good,  when  he  sows  seed  that  will  grow  up  into  such 
a  harvest  as  this  ?  Is  a  body  decrepid  before  its  time,  a 
constitution  broken  and  decayed,  an  old  age  of  pain  and  of 
sorrow  and  of  inanition,  a  fortune  wrecked,  hopes  blasted 
and  expectations  crushed,  good :  and  yet  these  are  the  bless- 
ings which  follow  in  the  train  of  a  life  of  pleasure.  Can 
man  know  what  is  good,  when  he  sacrifices  all  the  kindly 
charities  of  life,  all  the  chaste  enjoyments  of  home  and 


102  The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life. 

fireside,  for  such  companions  as  these  for  his  declining 
years  ?  And  even  when  these  things,  or  any  other  earthly 
objects,  are  bestowed  upon  man  without  these  visible  nat- 
ural consequences,  can  he  or  any  other  man  know  whether 
they  will  work  good  or  evil  for  him  ?  Wealth  suddenly 
acquired  is  almost  sure  to  destroy  him  who  receives  it. 
Power  rapidly  obtained  usually  turns  the  head  and  corrupts 
the  heart  of  him  upon  whom  it  is  bestowed.  Idleness  and 
luxury  enervate  both  soul  and  body,  and  sink  those  who  are 
permitted  to  indulge  them  into  effeminacy  and  lethargy. 
Whatever  man  considers  good,  has  with  it  toil  and  care  and 
disappointment  if  he  pursues  it ;  and,  if  it  is  thrust  upon 
him,  almost  certain  corruption  and  ruin.  The  wisest  father 
who  had  any  true  experience,  would  hesitate  long  before 
deciding  upon  what  he  would  desire  for  his  child ;  and  sel- 
dom would  he  wish  to  heap  upon  him  any  of  those  things 
which  men  count  good,  without  first  passing  him  through 
those  preliminary  steps  of  discipline,  which  seem  necessary 
to  chasten  the  desire  and  moderate  the  passions  of  men. 

And  as  it  is  with  good,  so  is  it  likewise  with  what  men 
call  evil.  Looking  at  this  under  its  various  forms  of  labor, 
of  poverty,  of  disease,  of  affliction,  of  humiliation,  of  dis- 
appointment, it  is  hard  to  say,  from  one's  own  experi- 
ence, whether  those  conditions  of  things  have  not  been 
most  propitious  to  us.  I  know  that  in  the  world,  —  and  I 
know  that  Christians  catch  the  tone  and  language,  —  the 
man  is  pitied  who  is  subjected  to  any  of  these  conditions  of 
being :  —  pitied  without  any  consideration  how  much  his 
character  may  need  their  discipline,  or  his  habits  their 
restraining  influence!  Little  do  we  know,  while  we  thus 
speak,  but  that  these  things  are  in  the  highest  sense  the 
very  best  which  could  have  come  upon  him  ;  —  not  for  his 
present  and  immediate  comfort,  but  for  that  long  future 
which  he  may  have  to  live  here  upon  earth.    The  solemn 


The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life.  103 

experience  of  the  world  uniformly  teaches  us  tliat  good  and 
evil  are  not  mere  abstract  and  opposite  qualities ;  but  that 
good  is  often  evil,  and  evil  often  good  —  paradoxical  as  it 
may  seem  —  according  to  the  individuals  around  whom  they 
circle,  or  the  circumstances  under  which  they  are  cast  upon 
us.  And  the  conclusion  is  the  same  as  before :  "  Who 
knoweth  what  is  good  for  man  in  this  life,  all  the  days  of 
his  vain  life  which  he  spendeth  as  a  shadow  ?  " 

If  we  look  at  this  truth  with  the  light  of  Scripture,  it  is 
still  more  striking.  Man  may  not  acknowledge  his  experi- 
ence, —  may  prefer  to  veil  his  consciousness  from  the  eye 
of  his  fellow- man,  and  persist  in  the  assertion  that  he  does 
not  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil :  but  the  Bible  speaks 
always  frankly  and  honestly  to  man,  and  places  before  him 
his  full,  true  measure.  It  looks  at  life  not  simply  in  the 
present,  but  also  in  the  future  ;  gathers  man's  immortality 
around  him,  and  makes  him  take  that  into  the  account  of 
good  and  of  evil :  and  when  that  union  has  been  made,  and 
the  conditions  of  his  salvation  are  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  question,  no  one  can  hesitate  in  his  decision  as  to  man's 
ignorance  of  good  and  evil.  When  the  Bible  tells  us  that 
it  is  harder  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  than  for  a  camel  to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle,  and  man  counts  riches  one  of  his  greatest  goods : 
well  may  we  say,  in  the  words  of  our  text,  "  For  who 
knoweth  what  is  good  for  man  in  this  life  ?  "  When  the 
Bible  teaches  us  that  not  many  wise,  not  many  noble,  not 
many  learned  are  called,  and  men  toil  for  wisdom  and  honor 
and  learning  like  galley  slaves,  sacrificing  bodily  ease  and 
the  comforts  and  tranquillity  of  life  for  their  possession :  we 
may  again  ask  :  "  For  who  knoweth  what  is  good  for  man 
in  this  life  ?  "  When  the  Bible  heaps  its  blessings  upon 
the  meek,  the  pure,  the  merciful,  the  peacemakers,  the 
persecuted,  and  man  reckons  gentleness  and  purity  and 


104  The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life. 

mercy  and  peace  among  the  mean  things  and  the  base 
things  of  the  world  :  we  may  again  ask :  "  Who  knoweth 
what  is  good  for  man  in  this  life  ?  "  When,  in  fine,  the 
grace  of  God  is  made  in  the  Bible  the  highest  gift  pur- 
chased for  man  by  Jesus  Christ,  —  is  reckoned  above  all 
things  else  in  preciousness  and  glory,  —  while  man  con- 
siders its  possession  as  a  token  of  weakness  and  imbecility  : 
we  may  put  anew  the  question  :  "  Who  knoweth  what  is 
good  for  man  in  this  life  ?  "  In  the  view  of  Inspiration,  as 
well  as  in  that  of  our  experience,  we  are  satisfied  that  man's 
ignorance  of  what  is  good  for  him  is  profound,  and  that 
we  may  safely  challenge  human  nature  to  answer :  "  For 
who  knoweth  what  is  good  for  man  in  this  life,  all  the  days 
of  his  vain  life  which  he  spendeth  as  a  shadow  ?  " 

If  it  cannot  be  known  by  man,  then,  what  is  good  for 
him  in  this  life,  we  are  brought  to  several  practical  conclu- 
sions of  deep  importance  to  us  in  the  conduct  of  life.  And 
the  first  of  them  is  this  :  "  that  we  should  place  no  inordi- 
nate value  upon  those  things  which  are  counted  among 
men  as  good  for  them,  nor  should  we  too  carefully  desire 
them,  nor  should  we  envy  others  the  possession  of  them." 
David  himself  was  sorely  beset  by  this  temptation,  and 
details  his  experience  and  its  cure  in  the  73d  Psalm  :  — 
"  But  as  for  me,  my  feet  were  almost  gone ;  my  steps  had 
well-nigh  slipped.  For  I  was  envious  at  the  foolish,  when 
I  saw  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked.  They  are  not  in 
trouble  as  other  men  ;  neither  are  they  plagued  like  other 
men.  Verily  I  have  cleansed  my  heart  in  vain,  and 
washed  my  hands  in  innocency.  For  all  the  day  long  have 
I  been  plagued,  and  chastened  every  morning.  When  I 
thought  to  know  this,  it  was  too  painful  for  me ;  until  I 
went  into  the  sanctuary  of  God ;  then  understood  I  their 
end.  Surely  thou  didst  set  them  in  slippery  places  :  thou 
castedst  them  down  into  destruction.    Thus  my  heart  was 


The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life.  105 

grieved,  and  I  was  pricked  in  my  reins.  So  foolish  was  I, 
and  ignorant ;  I  was  as  a  beast  before  thee."  We  must  not 
look  at  things  in  this  world  as  they  seem ;  but  we  must 
look  at  their  end,  and  that  in  the  light  of  the  sanctuary. 
What  seems  to  flesh  and  sense  to  be  good,  may  be  good 
only  for  the  moment,  —  may  be  accompanied  by  troubles 
and  dangers  of  the  most  perilous  kind,  and  may  lead  to 
inevitable  destruction.  If  we  take  only  one  view  of  them, 
—  what  may  be  called  the  fleshly  and  earthly  view,  —  they 
wear  the  aspect  of  goodness  :  but  only  turn  their  other 
visage,  —  place  them  under  the  eye  of  Scripture,  —  and 
that  aspect  changes  into  one  of  evil  and  of  curse.  Those 
who  possess  them  are  said  by  the  Scriptures  to  stand  in 
slippery  places,  to  be  consumed  with  daily  terrors;  and 
sudden  destruction  is  their  threatened  doom.  From  such 
things  a  prudent  man,  foreseeing  the  evil,  would  hide  him- 
self. 

Another  most  important  conclusion  is  the  reverse  of  this  : 
"  That  we  should  not  be  too  much  cast  down  by  what  the 
world  calls  evil,  nor  murmur  against  the  lot  which  God  has 
assigned  to  us."  When  we  hear  one  of  God's  servants 
saying,  "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted,"  for 
"  before  I  was  afflicted,  I  went  astray ;  " 1  —  when  we  see 
an  Apostle  deliberately  writing  to  the  Hebrews  that  "  whom 
the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son 
whom  he  receiveth,"  2  and  that  though  "  no  chastening  for 
the  present  seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous ;  neverthe- 
less, afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteous- 
ness ; "  3  —  when  we  find  God's  richest  blessings  associated 
with  lowliness,  and  humiliation,  and  suffering;  —  when,  in 
fine,  our  great  Exemplar  was  a  child  of  poverty,  and  had 
not  where  to  lay  His  head,  and  was  deeply  acquainted  with 
grief:  well  may  we  be  satisfied  with  conditions  of  being 

1  Psalm  cxix.  71,  67.  2  Heb.  xii.  6.  3  Ibid.  11. 


106  The  Vanity  of  Earthly  Life, 

which  have  such  words  of  comfort  and  examples  of  holiness 
connected  with  them.  We  cannot  credit  the  Bible  without 
being  satisfied  that  what  man  calls  evil  is  ofttimes  God's 
richest  blessing ;  and  that  the  school  of  humiliation,  taking 
the  word  in  its  broadest  sense,  is  the  discipline  of  man's 
highest  good.  In  our  ignorance  we  cannot  know  this  ;  but 
it  must  be  learned,  like  all  our  other  best  lessons,  through 
faith  and  experience.  The  flesh  revolts  against  it :  but  then 
flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  which 
is  the  inheritance  we  desire.  Let  us  then  be  satisfied  with 
our  condition,  however  lowly,  however  difficult,  however  full 
of  toil :  for  if  it  be  blessed  with  faith,  it  must  end  in  ever- 
lasting life. 

And  lastly  our  ignorance  of  what  is  good  for  us  should 
teach  us  to  place  ourselves  in  the  keeping  of  a  Being  who 
is  wiser  and  more  far-seeing  than  ourselves.  He  has  prom- 
ised to  make  every  thing  work  together  for  good  to  those 
that  love  him:  and  how  much  better — where  no  one  know- 
eth  what  is  good  for  man  in  this  life  —  to  place  ourselves 
under  the  guidance  of  a  Father  who  will,  by  His  divine 
power,  overrule  every  thing  to  good,  whatever  it  may  be  in 
itself,  or  however  it  may  appear  to  flesh  and  sense.  Good 
and  evil  are  indissolubly  connected  together  in  this  world, 
—  good  and  evil,  I  mean,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  multi- 
tude use  these  words.  They  come  alike  to  all,  the  just  and 
the  unjust,  the  righteous  and  the  sinful.  But  while  we  are 
so  blind  —  such  "beasts,"  as  the  Psalmist  calls  it — that  we 
cannot  distinguish  between  these:  there  is  One  who  can 
make  every  thing  good  for  us,  however  marred  its  visage  or 
ominous  its  aspect.  Upon  Him,  then,  let  us  cast  our  care. 
In  His  wisdom  let  us  rest  our  judgments.  Let  Him  decide 
for  us  our  course,  and  all  its  accompaniments :  and  whether 
He  dispense  to  us  what  the  world  calls  good  or  evil,  let  us 
feel  that  it  is  best  for  us,  because  the  Lord  hath  ordered  it. 


Clebentlj  Sermon. 


And  the  apostles  said  unto  the  Lord,  Increase  our  faith. — 
S.  Luke  xvii.  5. 

TF  we  were  to  select  from  among  men  an  individual  who 
had  signally  failed  in  life,  and  were  to  analyze  the  causes 
of  his  failure,  we  should  almost  certainly  find  a  neglect  of 
what  he  considered  trifles,  a  disregard  of  what  he  deemed 
unimportant  circumstances,  to  have  been  really  one  of  the 
most  prominent  of  them.  While  he  had  been  preparing  him- 
self for  great  occasions,  and  waiting  for  large  opportunities, 
he  had  neglected  the  little  things  which  make  up  the  greater 
part  of  ordinary  life,  and  had  thus,  before  trial,  proved  him- 
self ignorant  of  the  true  conditions  of  his  being ;  and  un- 
fitted, because  of  that  ignorance,  for  success  in  its  conduct. 
While  another  man  had  been  carefully  watching  every  occa- 
sion of  usefulness  or  advancement,  however  slight  it  might 
appear,  —  had  treated  every  circumstance,  which  involved 
him  at  all  in  its  effects,  as  if  it  might  be  the  most  important 
of  his  life,  —  he  had  considered  like  occasions  and  like  cir- 
cumstances as  too  trivial  for  his  notice,  as  too  ordinary  to 
produce  any  material  or  permanent  consequences.  And 
thus  while  the  one,  taking  advantage  of  every  little  wave 
which  rippled  to  his  feet,  had  launched  his  bark,  and  was 
far  off  on  his  prospering  voyage  :  the  other  was  still  waiting 
for  some  extraordinary  influx  of  the  waters,  which  was  to 
bear  him  forth  upon  its  swelling  bosom,  and  sweep  him  at 
once  to  fortune  or  to  fame.    And  there  will  he  stand  until 


xo8 


Increase  our  Faith, 


his  life  shall  end :  and  he  learn  —  when  too  late  —  that 
fortune,  fame,  nay,  character  itself,  are  made  up  not  of  acci- 
dental or  lucky  chances,  but  of  a  steady  and  industrious  im- 
provement of  those  opportunities  which  come  alike  to  all  in 
the  usual  course  of  human  life. 

And  thus,  my  hearers,  shall  every  one  of  us  stand,  unim- 
proved in  religious  character,  unadvanced  in  our  soul's  sal- 
vation, waiting,  waiting,  upon  the  shore  of  the  great  ocean 
of  God's  eternal  love  :  unless  we  learn,  at  once,  that  our 
advancement  in  spiritual  things  is  made  to  depend,  like  our 
success  in  worldly  things,  not  upon  any  extraordinary  mani- 
festation of  God's  grace  towards  us,  not  upon  any  striking 
exercise  of  our  faith  towards  Him,  but  upon  the  improve- 
ment of  that  grace  which,  the  Apostle  tells  us,  appeareth 
to  all  men ;  and  upon  the  exercise  of  that  faith  which  is 
concerned  about  the  circumstances  and  contingencies  of 
every-day  life. 

Christians  are  very  prone  to  consider  the  increase  of  faith 
as  necessary  for  them  upon  great  and  important  occasions 
of  human  life,  —  when  they  are  called  upon  to  meet  a  great 
crisis,  or  to  wade  through  a  sea  of  troubles,  or  to  struggle 
with  a  storm  of  temptation.  And  in  this  they  are  right, 
and  God  has  promised  that  upon  such  occasions  and  under 
such  necessity  His  grace  shall  be  sufficient  for  them :  but 
they  are  wrong  in  supposing  that  they  do  not  require  a  like 
increase  to  meet  the  ordinary  trials  and  temptations  of 
every-day  life.  For  these  they  consider  themselves  fully 
prepared  by  their  consistent  Christian  life,  and  do  not  sup- 
pose that  such  common  and  usual  occurrences  demand  any 
special  supply  of  the  Spirit's  power  and  influence.  And  it 
is  just  at  this  point  that  most  of  us  make  the  great  mistake 
of  our  Christian  life,  and  lose  alike  the  comfort  and  the 
power  of  Christianity.  And  this  mistake  is  in  supposing 
that  our  duties  —  those  duties  in  which  God  has  promised 


Increase  otir  Faith. 


109 


us  His  help  and  support  —  consist  in  great  things,  in  un- 
usual efforts,  in  extraordinary  sacrifices,  in  uncommon  self- 
devotion.  And  while  waiting  for  these  occasions,  we  are 
undisciplined  for  those  trials  which  we  call  petty  because 
they  come  daily,  and  stumble  in  our  Christian  walk  because 
unprepared  for  the  exercise  of  our  graces  under  circum- 
stances which  we  deem  common  only  because  they  are  con- 
stantly recurring. 

The  circumstances  under  which  this  prayer  was  offered 
by  the  Apostles  to  their  Lord  furnish  a  felicitous  elucidation 
of  our  meaning.  It  was  evidently  an  earnest  prayer, —  one 
offered  impulsively,  in  reply  to  what  they  considered  one  of 
the  hard  sayings  of  their  Master.  Had  it  been  one  of  those 
hard  sayings,  —  had  it  been  offered  in  reply  to  His  myste- 
rious declaration  that  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he 
cannot  see  the  Kingdom  of  God," 1  or  that  other  saying 
which  commanded  them  to  eat  His  Flesh  and  drink  His 
Blood,  —  it  would  not  have  furnished  us  with  the  instruc- 
tion we  are  deriving  from  it :  because,  under  those  circum- 
stances, we  should  not  have  deemed  it  either  a  remarkable 
or  an  unnecessary  prayer.  We  should  have  confessed,  at 
once,  that  for  the  reception  of  such  doctrines  an  increase 
of  faith  was  alike  proper  and  requisite.  But  when,  upon 
turning  to  the  context,  we  find  that  this  prayer  was  uttered 
in  reply  to  such  a  simple,  every-day  duty  as  the  forgiveness 
of  injuries,  we  feel  at  once  that  there  is  a  meaning  in  it, 
which  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  understand,  —  a  lesson  con- 
veyed by  it,  which  we  ought  to  learn  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment  of  our  Christian  career. 

"  Take  heed  to  yourselves,"  are  the  words  of  our  Saviour : 
"  If  thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,  rebuke  him  ;  and  if 
he  repent,  forgive  him.  And  if  he  trespass  against  thee 
seven  times  in  a  day,  and  seven  times  in  a  day  turn  ag*ain 

1  S.  John  iii.  3. 


no 


Increase  our  Faith. 


to  thee,  saying",  I  repent;  thou  shalt  forgive  him.  And 
the  Apostles  said  unto  the  Lord,  Increase  our  faith."  And 
well  might  they  pray  so  :  for  it  is  not  so  much  the  great- 
ness of  an  act  which  makes  it  difficult  to  a  Christian,  as  its 
frequent  recurrence,  coupled  as  it  is  with  an  antagonism  to 
flesh  and  hlood.  When  a  great  occasion  offers  itself,  when  a 
mighty  sacrifice  for  religion  is  forced  upon  us,  when  some  re- 
markable trial  casts  its  dark  shadow  over  our  path,  we  nerve 
ourselves  for  the  struggle ;  we  put  upon  us  the  armor  of 
righteousness  upon  the  right  hand  and  upon  the  left.  But 
we  are  not  habitually  watchful  against  little  sins,  against 
secret  sins,  against  the  trials  and  annoyances  which  are  the 
most  dangerous,  because  they  are  the  most  frequent,  and 
come  upon  us  unawares. 

We  run  into  great  error  both  in  life  and  in  religion, 
when  we  undertake  to  determine  what  are  great  things  and 
what  are  little  things,  —  what  actions  are  important,  and 
what  unimportant.  Our  judgment  is  almost  always  false 
upon  questions  like  these ;  and  could  those  judgments  be 
seen  by  us  as  they  are  seen  by  God,  we  should  find  that  we 
were  too  often  calling  good,  evil ;  and  evil,  good :  sweet,  bit- 
ter ;  and  bitter,  sweet.  We  conclude  that  things  are  great 
and  important,  when  they  are  public,  notorious,  of  wide 
fame,  of  extensive  interest ;  when  they  are  blown  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind ;  when  they  occupy  the  tongues  of  multi- 
tudes ;  when  they  adorn,  or  soil,  the  page  of  history.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  call  things  trifling  and  unimportant, 
when  they  are  frequent,  ordinary,  confined  to  small  circles, 
shut  up  within  the  heart  and  consciousness  of  individuals. 
We  forget  that  the  daily  recurrence  of  a  thing,  common 
and  ordinary,  may  make  it  of  vast  moment  to  our  welfare 
and  happiness,  while  the  rare  occurrence  of  an  uncommon 
event  may  render  it  —  however  striking  it  may  seem  on  the 
instant  —  of  very  little  consequence  in  its  results.  In 


Increase  our  Faith. 


in 


Nature,  it  is  the  unfailing  recurrence  of  night  and  day,  of 
seed-time  and  harvest,  of  winter  and  summer;  it  is  the 
steady  movement  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  ;  it  is  the 
uniform  and  unchanging  laws  of  attraction  and  repulsion, 
of  evaporation  and  condensation,  of  motion  and  inertia ; 
which  are  most  important  and  therefore  greatest :  and  not 
the  portentous  eclipse,  nor  the  fiery  comet,  nor  the  extreme 
convulsions  of  Nature,  even  though  they  leave  for  ages  the 
impress  of  their  terror  and  desolation.  The  one  goes  on 
forever,  —  quiet,  silent,  sublime,  yet  giving  life,  happiness, 
joy,  confidence  to  a  world.  The  other  is  only  for  the  mo- 
ment, —  terrible,  fearful,  overwhelming,  exciting  the  mind, 
astonishing  the  understanding,  for  years  perhaps  the  theme 
of  science  and  of  study :  yet  never  working  for  man  any 
of  the  beneficent  results  which  flow  from  the  common, 
every-day  blessings  of  light  and  heat,  of  dew  and  rain,  of 
summer's  breath  and  winter's  blasts. 

And  as  it  is  in  Nature,  so  is  it  likewise  in  life.  It  is  not 
the  poetry  of  life,  nor  yet  its  romance,  which  make  up  its 
blessedness :  it  is  its  every-day  prose.  Wit,  eloquence,  wis- 
dom, heroism,  learning,  beauty, — these  are  the  idols  of 
the  world.  These  make  men  and  women  great,  place  them 
upon  pedestals,  shrine  them  in  hearts,  embalm  them  in  song 
and  story.  But  when  you  come  truly  to  weigh  these  gifts, 
— to  rate  their  value  in  the  world's  advancement  or  in  the 
world's  happiness,  —  plain  common  sense  outweighs  them 
all.  And  for  the  simple  reason,  that  life  is  made  up  of 
common  and  ordinary  things,  which  demand  none  of  these 
qualities  as  essential  to  their  proper  conduct.  They  em- 
bellish life;  they  constitute  the  fluting  to  the  column  or 
the  efflorescence  of  the  capital  :  but  coarser  materials  than 
these  must  bear  up  the  fabric  of  society.  The  qualities 
which  make  the  fireside  peaceful  and  virtuous ;  which  train 
the  young  in  the  paths  of  duty ;  which  furnish  the  examples 


112 


Increase  our  Faith. 


of  industry,  of  obedience,  of  reference,  of  religion ;  which 
give  stability  to  society  and  strength  to  government:  are 
those  which  are  truly  great,  and  most  essentially  impor- 
tant. And  these  are  the  qualities  which  God  dispenses 
most  freely,  and  which  man  despises  because  they  are  uni- 
versally diffused.  They  give  peace  at  home,  but  they  do 
not  confer  distinction  abroad.  They  cast  a  halo  around  a 
happy  wife  and  rejoicing  children ;  but  then  it  is  not  a 
rainbow  that  spans  the  earth.  They  protect  law,  and  pre- 
serve justice,  and  keep  society  from  anarchy ;  but  then  their 
names  are  not  blown  abroad  by  fame's  noisy  trumpet,  nor 
their  effects  recorded  upon  monuments  of  brass.  They  are 
not  great ;  because  man  confounds  greatness  with  notoriety, 
sublimity  with  noise  and  ostentation. 

And  as  it  is  in  Life,  so  it  is  likewise  in  Religion.  It  is 
not  upon  the  great  fields  of  ecclesiastical  strife  that  the  vic- 
tories of  the  Cross  have  been  won ;  but  in  the  quiet,  unob- 
trusive walks  of  duty  and  of  suffering.  Catching  the  spirit 
and  language  of  the  world,  we  call  the  martyr  great ;  we 
call  the  reformer  great ;  we  call  the  ripe  and  learned  theo- 
logian great ;  we  call  the  mitred  dignitary  great ;  and  we 
connect  with  them  the  advancement  of  religion  and  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit.  For  deeds  such  as  they  have  per- 
formed, for  works  such  as  they  have  done,  for  struggles 
such  as  they  have  waged,  for  writings  such  as  they  have  left, 
we  think  the  prayer  of  the  Apostles,  "  Lord,  increase  our 
faith,"  must  have  been  appropriate  and  necessary.  But  God 
sees  not  as  man  sees  :  and  His  eyes  look  upon  many  a  mar- 
tyr of  whom  the  world  has  never  heard ;  and  watch  the  dust 
of  many  a  reformer  who  lived  before  the  Church  knew  any 
reformation  ;  and  behold  the  brows  of  many  an  humble  and 
obedient  Christian  encircled  with  the  golden  crown  of  im- 
mortality, who  knew  no  learning  when  on  earth  save  the 
learning  of  His  Word,  and  wore  no  crown  save  the  crown 


Increase  our  Faith. 


of  sorrow  and  of  thorns.  And  He  sees,  too,  that  it  is  their 
deeds  of  Faith  and  of  humility  which  have  subdued  the 
earth ;  that  it  is  the  seeds  which  they  hare  planted  of  obedi- 
ence and  of  reverence  which  have  leavened  the  world;  that  it 
is  their  works  of  love  and  charity  which  have  sanctified  the 
Name  of  Jesus  upon  earth.  Ask  the  proud  man,  who  lies 
in  humbled  repentance  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  asking  for 
mercy  and  for  peace,  what  hath  brought  him  there  :  and  he 
will  point  you,  not  to  the  martyr's  ashes,  not  to  the  theo- 
logian's wisdom,  not  to  the  preacher's  eloquence  :  but  to 
the  meek  and  holy  life  of  a  sainted  mother,  obscure  to  all 
but  him ;  or  to  the  patient  endurance  of  a  long-suffering 
wife,  unknown  except  by  God  and  himself ;  or  to  the  uncon- 
scious purity  of  some  darling  child,  whose  daily  life  has 
breathed  more  of  Christianity  than  all  the  forms  of  religion 
which  have  surrounded  him.  Ask  the  rebellious  youth  who 
is  returning  after  his  prodigal  career  to  find  comfort  upon 
his  father's  bosom,  what  is  guiding  him  back  to  a  long  neg- 
lected and  long  forgotten  home :  and  he  will  tell  you  no  tale 
of  wonder  or  of  miracle,  —  of  supernatural  awakening  or 
angelic  guidance.  His  polar  star,  through  all  his  wander- 
ings, has  been  his  father's  fireside,  hallowed  by  affection, 
endeared  by  tenderness,  consecrated  by  prayer,  made  lovely 
as  Paradise  by  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  which  ever  rested 
over  it !  These  are  the  influences  which  keep  Christ's  name 
divine  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  —  which  force  even  wicked 
men  to  confess  that  His  life  and  death  have  raised  humanity 
to  a  higher  standard  than  it  has  ever  before  attained. 

And  who  are  they  that  have  worked  and  are  still  working 
such  wonders  for  the  Name  of  Christ,  such  blessings  for  a 
cursed  and  smitten  earth  ?  They  are  the  meek  and  humble 
saints  of  whom  the  world  knows  but  little,  —  the  merciful, 
the  pure  in  heart,  the  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake, 
the  imitators  in  suffering  of  Him  who  was  the  "  man  of 

8 


ii4 


Increase  our  Faith, 


sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief."  They  are  those  who 
have  patiently  borne  all  the  afflictions  which  a  heavenly 
Father  has  laid  upon  them,  and  have  learned  to  comfort 
others  with  the  consolation  wherewith  God  has  comforted 
them.  They  are  those  who  have  labored  to  cheer  the  drea- 
riness of  poverty,  to  speak  peace  to  the  accusing  conscience, 
to  find  rest  for  the  wearied  spirit,  to  revive  the  crushed  and 
despairing  heart.  They  are  those  who  have  filled  Heaven 
with  their  prayers,  and  whose  prayers  have  returned  laden 
with  the  blessing  and  the  dew  of  Heaven,  which  they  have 
scattered  all  around  them.  They  are  those  who  have 
washed  their  robes  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  from 
whose  eyes  God  will  forever  wipe  away  all  tears. 

And  what  are  the  deeds  which  have  made  these  saints  of 
God  so  precious  in  His  eyes,  —  such  a  blessing  to  the  whole 
earth  ?  What  are  the  conquests  which  shall  enroll  their 
names  so  illustriously  among  the  elect  of  God  ?  Just  such 
deeds,  my  fellow-Christians,  as  any  Christian  among  you 
may  perform  ;  — just  such  conquests  as  every  one  of  you  is 
called  upon  daily  to  achieve.  The  deeds  of  faith  which 
hallow  the  name  of  Jesus  upon  earth,  the  conquests  of  love 
which  make  His  religion  indeed  glad  tidings  of  great  joy 
to  the  world,  are  not  limited  to  great  occasions,  or  unusual 
opportunities ;  have  not  to  be  waited  for  until  some  great 
religious  crisis  shall  arise,  and  give  fitting  scope  to  the  ex- 
cited energies  :  but  meet  us  at  every  step  of  our  Christian 
life,  cross  our  path  daily  and  hourly,  furnishing  the  means 
of  discipline  and  the  prospect  of  heavenly  glory.  Oh !  how 
fatal  an  error  do  we  commit,  when  we  wait  for  illustrious 
opportunities  in  order  to  utter  the  prayer  of  our  text,  "  In- 
crease our  faith ! "  How  fearful  is  our  mistake,  when  we 
consider  nothing  great  but  what  is  of  public  interest  and 
wide-spread  renown.  We  need  that  prayer  at  every  mo- 
ment of  our  lives ;  for  we  spend  no  day  in  which  we  are  not 


Increase  our  Faith. 


"5 


called  upon  for  deeds  of  faith,  for  conquests  over  self  and 
over  the  world.  We  glorify  him  who  confesses  his  faith  in 
the  midst  of  fire  ;  who  bears,  for  a  few  hours,  the  physical 
agonies  of  a  body  devoured  by  the  flames  :  and  think  he 
needs,  indeed,  the  prayer,  "  Increase  our  Faith."  But  what 
is  his  suffering  compared  with  the  martyrdom  of  a  whole 
life,  —  with  the  agony  of  carrying  about  day  after  day,  year 
after  year,  a  crushed  and  broken  heart.  —  crushed  and 
blighted  for  the  sake  of  Christ.  And  yet  many  a  private 
Christian  of  whose  sorrows  the  world  knows  nothing,  does 
this  for  Christ.  We  exalt  the  Xame  of  him,  who  leaves 
father  and  mother  and  sister  and  brother,  and  bears  aloft 
the  banner  of  the  Cross  in  foreign  lands,  battling  for  Christ 
against  the  powers  of  darkness ;  and  acknowledge  that  he 
needs  indeed  the  prayer  "  Increase  our  Faith."  But  what 
is  his  self-denial  compared  with  the  self-denial  of  him  who 
remains  in  the  midst  of  the  world,  surrounded  by  the  hosts 
of  the  proud,  and  the  unbelieving,  and  the  scoffing,  and  the 
lukewarm,  and  battles  for  Christ  against  their  indifference 
and  fierce  opposition  ?  We  place  high  upon  the  list  of  his- 
toric fame  him  who  separates  himself  from  the  world  and 
dwells  in  solitariness,  devoting  himself  to  prayer  and  self- 
denial  ;  and  we  confess  that  he  requires  the  prayer,  "  In- 
crease our  Faith."  But  what  is  his  dreariness  compared 
with  the  weary  spirit  that  goes  forth  to  his  daily  cares, 
tempted  on  every  hand,  perplexed,  harassed,  having  to  con- 
trol his  temper,  to  smother  his  indignation,  to  walk  meekly 
and  humblv  in  the  midst  of  a  o-ainsavinor  world.  "  Better," 
saith  the  wise  man,  "  is  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit,  than  he 
that  taketh  a  city :  " 1  and  yet,  who  thinks  that  he  needs 
the  prayer  "  Increase  our  Faith,"  when  he  has  nothing  more 
to  do  than  the  simple  work  of  ruling  his  temper. 

Xo,  my  beloved  friends,  we  have  all  reason  to  use  this 

1  Prov.  xvi.  32. 


n6 


Increase  our  Faith. 


prayer  every  day  of  our  lives,  because  it  is  the  common  and 
ordinary  duties  of  life  which  are  indeed  the  greatest ;  —  the 
greatest,  because  the  most  frequent  and  the  most  influen- 
tial. Those  who  are  nearest  and  dearest  to  us,  whom  we 
should  rather  influence  than  all  others  upon  earth,  are  the 
witnesses  of  our  daily  walk.  They  see  our  inconsistencies  ; 
they  watch  our  infirmities ;  they  mark  our  deviations  from 
Christian  rectitude ;  and  impressions  are  made  upon  them 
which  work  effects  for  a  whole  lifetime.  Little  eyes  are 
always  fixed  upon  us ;  little  hearts  are  beating  in  unison 
with  ours ;  little  feet  are  treading  in  our  footsteps ;  little 
characters  are  forming  under  our  control.  Christianity 
stands  forth  daily  for  trial  in  our  persons  and  conduct. 
And  when  all  this  influence  breathes  from  our  walk,  think 
ye  that  we  do  not  need  the  prayer,  "  Increase  our  Faith  ?  " 
We  need  it  always,  for  the  government  of  our  tempers,  for 
the  ruling  of  our  tongues,  for  the  humbling  of  our  pride, 
for  the  control  of  our  desires,  for  the  subjugation  of  our 
appetites.  We  need  it  for  the  increase  of  our  trust  in  God, 
of  our  reliance  upon  Christ,  of  our  confidence  in  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  need  it  for  that  struggle  with  the 
world,  for  that  battle  of  life,  which  we  are  destined  to  wage 
until  mortality  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  Life. 


Ctcclftl)  Sermon. 


And  after  these  things  he  went  forth,  and  saw  a  publican,  ?iamed 
Levi,  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom  :  arid  he  said  unto  him,  Follow 
me.  And  he  left  all,  rose  up,  and  followed  him.  —  S.  Luke  v.  27, 
28. 

rpHE  longer  the  world  rolls  on,  the  more  does  it  seem 
to  he  involved  in  worldliness.  Only  a  few  years  hack, 
and  we  can  remember  the  comparative  quietness  of  things  : 
how  much  more  time  was  given  by  everybody  to  matters 
disconnected  from  business ;  to  amusement,  to  exercise,  to 
home,  to  rest.  One  part  of  the  day  sufficed  for  the  trans- 
actions of  the  world  ;  after  that,  care  was  rolled  off,  and 
the  body  and  the  mind  were  relaxed  from  their  extreme  ten- 
sion. The  result  of  what  was  done  had  to  he  quietly  waited 
for  until  the  operation  could  travel  its  required  distance, 
and  return  with  its  slow  reply.  The  news  of  the  world 
came  in  by  degrees,  and  one  thing  could  he  well  considered 
and  well  digested,  before  another  was  hurled  upon  it,  con- 
fusing and  entangling  the  past  and  the  present.  The 
thoughts  of  men  were  allowed  some  leisure  from  external 
pressure  to  dwell  upon  the  concerns  of  domestic  life,  and 
they  could  find  a  little  time  to  give  to  such  trifling  affairs 
as  wife  and  children,  and  their  souls  and  eternity.  The 
young  grew  up  then  under  the  shadow  of  their  father's 
wing,  and  were  taught  around  the  domestic  board  and  at 
the  fireside  those  lessons  of  morals  and  patriotism,  which 
made  our  forefathers  so  high-toned  and  illustrious,  and 
gave  to  the  Republic  a  race  of  men  which  is  fast  passing 


1 1 8      The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties, 

away.  But  all  this  is  now  changed.  A  man  of  business 
has  no  time  for  any  thing  except  business.  Space  and  dis- 
tance are  annihilated  ;  and  news  now  travels,  not  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind,  but  upon  the  lightning's  flash.  There 
is  no  rest  for  the  anxious  and  excited  mind.  The  whole 
day  is  a  continued  succession  of  new  and  often  startling 
announcements ;  and  before  the  one  care  is  disposed  of, 
another  comes  and  thrusts  its  unwelcome  presence  upon 
the  harassed  and  wearied  spirit.  There  is  fast  getting  to 
be  no  such  thing  as  Home.  It  was  once  the  boast  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  that  it  had  that  word  in  its  vocabulary, 
—  that  there  was  a  sanctuary  for  the  feelings  and  the  affec- 
tions, —  a  consecrated  spot,  where  the  mind  could  be  dis- 
burdened of  care,  and  the  brow  could  smooth  its  wrinkles, 
and  the  laboring  spirit  could  find  refreshment.  But  alas, 
while  the  word  still  remains  to  us,  the  thing  is  rapidly 
fading  away  before  the  increasing  excitement  of  the  world. 
~No  place  is  now  sacred,  for  business  thrusts  its  haggard 
visage  upon  every  hour  of  the  day,  and  into  every  private 
chamber  of  the  house ;  and  care  and  trouble  cannot  be  kept 
at  bay,  which  come  with  the  force  and  quickness  of  the 
elements.  Not  only  in  times  of  difficulty,  but  at  all  times, 
is  the  system  kept  in  a  condition  of  nervous  expectation, 
because  no  man  knows  what  the  next  moment  may  thrust 
upon  him  from  the  other  end  of  the  earth.  The  toil  of  the 
day  is  never  ended  5  the  sweets  of  home  are  but  half  en- 
joyed. Instead  of  carrying  to  that  circle  of  love  a  calm  and 
cheerful  spirit,  he  hurries  there  with  a  disturbed,  and  per- 
haps irritated  mind  :  and  hurries  back  to  his  anxieties,  hav- 
ing left  no  word  of  comfort,  no  recollection  of  happiness,  no 
example  of  peace,  for  its  unsatisfied  hearts.  His  presence 
has  given  no  joy,  his  spirit  has  received  no  strength ;  and 
thus  God's  precious  relations  of  husband  and  wife,  of  parent 
and  child,  of  home  and  love,  are  worn  out  under  this  un- 


The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties.  119 

natural  condition  of  things.  And  when  this  has  gone  on 
for  years  under  the  name  of  "  necessary  business,"  with  the 
sacred  appellation  of  "  duty  "  annexed  to  it,  while  so  many 
more  precious  duties  have  been  neglected  for  it :  what  has 
been  gained  for  it  all?  Perhaps  wealth,  perhaps  bank- 
ruptcy; but  in  either  case  sure  disappointment,  because 
the  truest  pleasures  of  life  have  been  sacrificed  for  it,  and 
what  is  won  is  won  too  late  for  any  true,  rational  enjoy- 
ment. 

I  have  drawn  this  picture  not  with  any  design,  of  course, 
of  running  a  tilt  against  the  world's  so-called  advance- 
ment, for  no  voice  of  man,  even  should  he  desire  it,  could 
ever  turn  that  back;  nor  even  of  expressing  the  opinion 
that  it  were  better  not  to  have  been  made :  but  rather  to 
show  the  extreme  difficulty,  under  such  circum stances,  of 
fixing  the  attention  of  men  upon  any  thing  not  wrapped  up 
with  their  daily  routine  of  business.  A  mind  excited  upon 
one  topic  cannot  be  made  to  attend  to  another,  and  if  busi- 
ness keeps  the  mind,  as  is  very  much  the  case  now,  unceas- 
ingly occupied,  what  is  the  chance  for  religious  truth? 
Where  is  the  time,  what  the  hour,  for  consideration,  for 
prayer,  for  repentance,  for  belief?  When  is  the  convenient 
season  to  come,  in  which  the  soul  is  to  be  thought  of? 
Formerly,  as  I  said  before,  there  were  hours  every  day  which 
a  man  might  call  his  own,  when  he  could  retire  withiu 
himself  and  attend  to  his  own  dearest  interests,  without 
neglecting,  or  even  seeming  to  neglect,  the  interests  of 
others ;  when,  if  a  man  did  not  attend  to  the  concerns  of 
his  soul,  it  was  because  he  was  careless  or  indifferent.  He 
could  not  plead  the  lack  of  opportunity.  But  now  the  case 
of  the  man  of  business  is  really  harder,  and  does  demand 
of  him  much  greater  resolution  than  of  old.  He  seems 
now  almost  compelled  to  be  in  a  constant  whirl  of  excite- 
ment, —  to  have  nothing  left  him  but  the  necessary  hours 


120     The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties. 

for  his  daily  food,  and  his  essential  sleep,  and  God's  blessed 
day  of  rest.  And  oh  !  how  precious  should  that  day  of  rest 
be  to  him  now,  when  things  are  so :  and  yet,  with  what  a 
jaded  and  wearied  heart,  with  what  an  exhausted  and  col- 
lapsed intellect,  is  he  forced  to  come  to  it !  During  the 
week,  —  the  busy,  restless,  excited  week,  —  religion  and 
the  soul  can  find  no  place  ;  and  on  the  Sunday,  even  when 
the  worn  out  body  does  not  cry,  with  nature's  cry,  for  rest 
and  sleep,  he  brings  to  the  sanctuary  of  God  a  heart  either 
unable  to  cast  off  its  care,  or  else  tired  out  with  its  tumult- 
uous pulsations,  and  careless  of  every  thing  save  the  reac- 
tion of  quiet.  It  makes  religion  almost  an  unheeded  topic  : 
and  the  minister  of  Christ  feels  that  he  is  pleading  for 
men's  souls  either  to  a  host  engaged  in  the  deadly  strife  of 
battle,  face  to  face,  and  hand  to  hand  ;  or  else  to  that  same 
host  when,  wearied  and  exhausted,  it  has  no  power  left  to 
fight,  and  is  reposing  only  that  it  may  recruit  its  strength 
for  the  morrow's  strife  ! 

The  ministers  of  God  have  this  great  comfort,  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  stronger  than-  man  or  his  arrangements ; 
that  Christ  has  gone  into  the  very  midst  of  the  marts  of 
commerce,  and  plucked  a  soul  thence.  "  And  after  these 
things  he  went  forth,  and  saw  a  publican,  named  Levi,  sit- 
ting at  the  receipt  of  custom :  and  he  said  unto  him,  Follow 
me.  And  he  left  all,  rose  up,  and  followed  him."  And 
what  Christ  did  then,  His  Spirit  can  do  now,  and  it  can 
penetrate  through  all  the  excitement  and  turmoil  of  which 
we  have  been  speaking,  and  bring  God's  children  home  to 
Him.  This  is  our  comfort,  that  we  are  not  working  alone; 
that  it  is  not  only  the  voice  of  man  that  is  crying  aloud  in 
the  places  of  concourse,  but  that  a  Spirit,  subtler  than  air, 
keener  than  lightning,  stronger  than  interest,  more  absorb- 
ing than  avarice,  is  likewise  busy  there,  speaking  for  Christ 
with  that  small,  still  voice  which  pierces  deeper  than  a 


The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties,  121 

sword,  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the  soul  and  spirit 
and  of  the  joints  and  marrow.  We  should  faint  and  grow 
weary  when  we  looked  out  upon  the  world  and  saw  its  seem- 
ing inattention  and  complete  absorption,  if  we  did  not  trust 
in  that  power  of  the  Spirit,  which  has  come  into  the  world 
as  the  gift  of  God  in  return  for  the  sacrifice  of  His  Son ; 
if  we  did  not  know  that  He  was  moving  everywhere,  invit- 
ing in  season  and  out  of  season,  pleading  when  man  has  no 
power  to  plead,  and  pluckiug  from  every  scene  of  life  dis- 
ciples for  the  Church  on  earth.  Yes,  my  hearers  !  even 
when  you  think  that  you  are  escaped  from  the  warnings 
and  the  exhortations  of  the  sanctuary,  there  follows  you  a 
Preacher  far  more  urgent  than  your  minister,  far  more 
intrusive  than  he  can  ever  he,  —  a  Preacher  who  shrinks 
neither  from  your  coldness  nor  your  anger,  who  fears  not 
to  tell  you  the  naked  truth,  who  presses  not  only  into  your 
counting-rooms,  and  your  offices,  and  your  sanctuaries,  hut 
into  your  hearts  and  souls.  And  it  is  this  auxiliary  who  is 
our  Strength  and  our  Power,  —  who  gives  us  hope  when 
.  hope  would  otherwise  die,  — -who  bids  us  be  of  good  cheer, 
even  when  all  minds  seem  absorbed  in  business  and  gain. 
It  is  this  auxiliary  who  can  call  you,  even  as  Christ  called 
Matthew,  from  the  very  midst  of  your  business,  and  make 
you  leave  all  and  follow  Him. 

It  is  very  pleasant  to  observe  how  Christ  went  every- 
where and  found  followers ;  how  no  pursuit  of  life  escaped 
His  grasp  or  eluded  His  love.  Wherever  He  went,  He 
searched  for  spirits  that  would  obey  His  voice,  and  took 
His  disciples  from  every  condition  in  the  world.  Matthew 
was,  as  we  see  here,  a  publican,  Luke  was  a  physician,  John 
and  Peter  were  fishermen,  Paul  was  a  man  of  learning  and 
a  zealot.  No  occupation  seemed  below  His  call ;  none  so 
absorbing  as  to  resist  it ;  none  too  high  for  obedience  and 
submission  to  His  will.    Christianity,  my  hearers,  is  for 


122     The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties, 

all:  and  Christ's  example  is  meant  to  teach  us  that  we 
should  not  despise  any,  nor  despair  of  any;  should  not 
neglect  to  give  the  word  of  invitation  to  the  lowest  out- 
cast, nor  fear  to  cast  it  at  the  feet  of  the  busiest  and 
most  engaged.  We  know  not  who  will  hear  it  and  obey. 
Those  whom  we  least  look  for  may  be  the  first  to  come  out 
from  the  worldly  throng,  and  leave  all  and  follow  Christ. 
Men's  hearts  are  as  subject  to  the  will  of  God  to-day,  under 
the  dispensation  of  His  Spirit,  as  they  were  in  the  time  of 
Christ ;  and  can  be  bowed  down  under  His  voice  as  quickly 
as  they  then  were.  It  is  our  want  of  faith  which  makes  us 
fearful  of  results.  Nothing  is  more  absorbing  than  was 
the  occupation  of  Levi,  nothing  more  invincible  than  the 
fanaticism  of  Saul;  and  yet  the  one  instantly  obeyed  the 
voice  of  Christ,  and  the  other  was  subdued  into  humility 
before  His  power.  Why,  then,  should  we  be  hopeless  of 
any  ?  Why  should  we  tremble  at  the  world's  progress,  and 
be  fearful  of  its  influence  upon  the  conversion  of  men  ? 
The  Spirit  of  God  is  in  the  world,  and  He  can  pluck  the 
sinner  thence,  snatching  him  from  its  whirl  and  tumult  as 
easily  as  Christ  drew  Matthew  from  the  receipt  of  custom. 

But  while  this  is  so,  and  while  the  ministers  of  Christ 
may  feel  this  consolation,  there  is  yet,  my  hearers,  a  very 
great  danger  for  you  in  this  increasing  absorption  of  the 
world.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  among  you,  as  He  has  ever 
been,  and  is  as  strong  to  draw  souls  to  Christ  as  He  ever 
was  ;  but  are  you  likely  to  be  as  attentive  to  His  voice,  to 
be  as  willing  and  obedient  in  the  day  of  His  power  ?  Chris- 
tianity, it  is  true,  is  a  thing  of  the  heart ;  but  the  heart 
must  be  reached  through  the  mind.  God's  complaint 
against  His  people  of  old  was,  "  My  people  will  not  con- 
sider." And  when  S.  Paul  preached  to  the  Bereans,  we  are 
told  that  many  of  them  believed,  "  because  they  received  the 
word  with  all  readiness  of  mind,  and  searched  the  Script- 


The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties.  123 

ures  daily,  whether  those  things  were  so."  And  are  the 
times  in  which  we  are  living,  with  their  constant  agitation 
and  excitement,  with  their  rapid  influx  of  new  and  ab- 
sorbing matter,  with  their  daily  pressure  of  anxiety  and 
responsibility,  propitious  to  consideration  and  Scriptural 
examination  *?  Not  at  all  so  :  nay,  with  all  the  increase 
of  knowledge  and  books,  very  adverse ;  and  they  demand 
much  greater  effort  on  your  part  to  gain  for  Christ  and 
your  souls  the  proper  attention,  than  they  have  ever  done 
before.  We  talk  incessantly  of  the  greater  religions  facil- 
ities and  advantages  of  our  day,  of  the  increase  of  the 
means  of  grace.  And  there  is  some  truth  in  it,  if  we 
measure  it  by  the  number  of  books  and  tracts  which  are 
circulated,  and  by  the  accumulation  of  societies,  and  by  the 
diversity  of  benevolent  schemes.  But  I  question  very 
much  whether  more  was  not  done  among  men  for  Christ, 
when  we  had  only  the  Bible  and  the  Prayer-Book,  and  time 
to  read  and  study  them,  than  is  done  now,  with  ail  our 
books,  and  tracts,  and  societies,  and  no  time  for  any  thing 
but  business  and  gain.  TVe  are  fast  coming  to  a  sort  of 
compact  between  the  Church  and  men  of  business,  that  if 
the  one  will  support  the  other,  will  give  money  freely  for 
religious  objects,  the  Church  will  keep  their  consciences 
and  take  care  of  their  souls.  Men  seem  ready  to  do  every 
thing  and  any  thing  for  Christianity,  except  to  give  it  their 
thoughts  and  their  time.  "  What  do  you  want?53  is  the 
language  of  the  world  to  the  minister  of  the  Gospel :  "  to 
build  a  church?  Certainly,  I  give  with  pleasure. "  "  To 
feed  the  poor  ?  Better  still :  here  is  money,  as  much  as 
you  want."  "  To  send  missionaries  to  the  heathen  P  I 
do  not  exactly  see  the  use  of  that,  but  still  yon  are  my 
pastor,  and  if  you  think  it  right,  here  is  my  contribu- 
tion." "  But,"  replies  the  minister.  "  I  want  something 
more  than  this  :  I  want  you  to  give  your  attention  to 


124      The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties. 

personal  religion  —  to  consider  the  salvation  of  your  soul, 
and  its  unprepared  condition."  "  My  dear  pastor,"  is 
the  reply,  "  I  have  no  time  for  that ;  my  purse  is  at 
your  service  and  the  service  of  the  Church,  but  not  my 
time ;  I  am  too  busy  now  for  so  solemn  and  grave  a 
matter."  But,  my  hearers,  there  must  be  a  time,  and 
when  is  that  time  to  come  ?  The  world  is  not  going  to 
lose  any  of  its  excitement  as  it  grows  older.  It  will  be 
only  more  and  more  agitated,  more  and  more  restless,  more 
and  more  unquiet ;  and  if  you  are  putting  off  this  solemn 
work  for  any  less  bustling  period,  you  will  find  it  only  upon 
a  bed  of  sickness  or  in  your  graves  !  The  Church  can 
make  no  compromise  for  your  souls ;  for  the  word  of  God 
tells  us,  "  They  that  trust  in  their  wealth,  and  boast  them- 
selves in  the  multitude  of  their  riches ;  none  of  them  can 
by  any  means  redeem  his  brother,  nor  give  to  God  a  ran- 
som for  him  :  for  the  redemption  of  their  soul  is  precious, 
and  they  must  let  that  alone  for  ever." 1  Christ  is  not  sat- 
isfied with  that.  He  did  not  go  to  the  receipt  of  custom 
and  ask  Levi  for  his  money :  He  called  upon  him  to  follow 
Him.  And  so  now.  While  He  will  not  leave  your  good 
deeds  unrequited,  that  is  not  what  He  died  for,  nor  what 
He  instituted  His  Church  for,  nor  appointed  His  min- 
isters for,  nor  sends  His  Holy  Spirit  into  the  world  for. 
He  wants  you  to  follow  Him ;  to  spare  time  enough  to 
Christianity  to  save  your  souls;  to  give  up  whatever  He 
may  deem  necessary  to  require  of  you  for  His  Name's  sake. 
To  say  that  you  have  no  time  to  follow  Him,  is  to  give  up 
the  question  of  salvation  :  for  in  that  respect  you  will  never 
be  any  more  happily  situated.  You  must  make  the  time,  if 
you  desire  ever  to  be  a  Christian.  You  must  break  away, 
if  need  be,  from  the  receipt  of  custom.  Any  thing  is 
better  than  losing  your  soul.  "  For  what  shall  it  profit  a 

1  Psalm  xlix.  6-8  (the  last  phrase  is  from  the  Prayer-Book  version). 


The  busy  Mans  Religions  Difficulties.  125 

man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  an  J  lose  his  own 
soul '? 93 1 

To  return  to  the  point  whence  we  set  out.  Is  there  not 
something  radically  wrong  in  the  framework  of  a  social  state 
which  so  arranges  its  work  that  in  order  to  have  it  faith- 
fully performed,  the  higher  duties  of  domestic  life  must  be 
neglected '?  This  evil  is  not  confined  to  one  class  of  society, 
nor  to  any  one  kind  of  pursuit :  it  is  the  pervading  evil  of 
the  whole  country.  The  politician,  the  lawyer,  the  clergy- 
man, as  well  as  the  merchant,  are  all  so  occupied  with  the 
duties  of  their  profession,  that  they  must  exercise  a  stern 
resistance  to  the  exaction  of  the  times,  if  they  would  snatch 
any  hours  for  the  blessing  of  their  homes  or  the  improve- 
ment of  themselves.  And  it  will  prove  fatal  to  all  the  best 
interests  of  society  unless  it  he  corrected,  for  there  is  no 
authority  which  can  he  substituted  for  the  father's.  God 
will  not  permit  the  honor  nor  the  glory  which  He  has  de- 
signed for  the  parent  to  he  given  to  any  other  :  and  so  the 
child  must  bear  the  burden  of  the  neglect,  and  feel  it 
deeply  in  himself,  even  though  he  does  not  disclose  it  to 
the  world  in  immorality  and  disgrace.  Why  is  it  pass- 
ing into  a  proverb  that  the  youth  of  this  country.  — which, 
above  all  others,  demands  reverence  and  obedience,  because 
we  have  nothing  else  to  protect  us  from  anarchy  but  a 
law-abiding  education,  —  is  taking  things  into  its  own 
hands,  rejecting  control  and  despising  authority  ?  Why  is 
it  that  our  academies  are  scenes  of  disorder,  and  our  col- 
leges broken  up  year  after  year  ?  Why  is  it  that  our  popu- 
lation is  ever  growing  more  lawless  and  piratical '?  It  is 
just  because  the  fathers  have  not  had  time  to  give  that 
supervision  to  things  at  home,  which  God  and  Nature  de- 
signed them  to  give  :  and  so  the  legitimate  sceptre  of  the 
patriarch  is  fallen  from  their  hands,  and  lies  dishonored  in 
1  S.  MarkYiii.  36. 


126      The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficulties, 

the  dust.  And  no  natural  relation  can  be  violated  with 
impunity.  The  sin  will  find  a  man  out,  and  a  nation  out, 
as  surely  as  effect  follows  cause  in  physical  things.  And 
there  is  really  no  necessity  for  it.  There  is  no  busier  land 
than  our  Fatherland,  no  country  under  the  heavens  whose 
commerce  is  more  extended,  whose  manufactures  are  more 
gigantic,,  whose  trade  is  more  exacting,  whose  professional 
men  are  more  learned  and  assiduous,  whose  politicians  have 
heavier  responsibilities  upon  their  minds  and  their  hearts. 
And  yet  they  do  so  manage  to  arrange  their  work,  that 
they  neglect  neither  their  homes  nor  themselves.  Beauti- 
ful as  is  the  scenery  of  England ;  beautiful  as  is  its  rich 
and  perfect  cultivation  ;  beautiful  as  are  its  parks,  its  coun- 
try-seats, its  churches :  still  more  beautiful  are  its  Homes, 
those  nests  of  love  and  virtue,  where  are  trained  up  the 
men  of  dogged  honesty  and  unconquerable  principle,  who 
have  carried  her  up,  through  trial  and  trouble,  through 
storm  and  tempest,  to  the  topmost  pinnacle  of  glory.  And 
this  is  just  where  we  are  going  to  fail.  In  looking  at  great 
things,  we  are  neglecting  what  we  consider  small  things. 
In  our  onward  rush  to  greatness  and  power,  we  are  over- 
looking the  natural  laws  of  all  our  social  relations;  and 
they  will  some  day  vindicate  themselves  before  all  the  world 
with  a  fearful  retribution.  Society  must  and  will  advance ; 
man's  dominion  over  nature  must  and  will  be  enlarged ; 
Science  will  be  forever  adding  new  force  to  our  operations, 
and  placing  new  powers  in  our  hands.  But  we  must  never 
forget  that  morals  and  religion  do  not  advance  with  them  ; 
that  they  are  immutable ;  that  the  great  laws  which  God 
has  established  and  revealed  to  us  are  the  same  "  yesterday, 
to-day,  and  for  ever."  No  matter  how  things  may  change 
and  advance,  the  man  is  still  the  father,  the  husband,  the 
master,  with  duties  which  none  can  absolve  him  from, 
which  none  can  perform  for  him.    Any  work  which  absorbs 


The  busy  Mans  Religious  Difficzrities.  127 

hiin  so  entirely  tliat  he  cannot  fulfil  these,  is  work  more 
than  he  ought  to  do,  —  work  from  which  he  should  break 
away  rather  than  sacrifice  his  children  to  it.  It  cannot  he 
necessary.  God  will  not  permit  it  to  he  necessary,  for 
nothing1  can  he  necessary  which  violates  His  laws.  Noth- 
ing is  necessary  in  this  world  but  duty :  and  one's  duties 
to  home  —  his  moral  duties,  the  duties  arising  out  of  his 
presence,  his  authority,  his  example,  his  instruction  —  are 
far  more  important  than  the  duty  of  procuring  wealth  or 
even  comfort  for  his  family. 

And  then  one's  own  soul !  What  is  to  become  of  that  ? 
Is  it  to  be  sacrificed  to  this  cry  of  necessary  work  ?  Is 
Eternity,  as  well  as  Time,  to  be  laid  at  the  foot  of  this 
Moloch  ?  God  forbid  !  And  yet  it  must  be,  if  you  can  find 
no  time  to  pray  that  your  soul  may  be  saved.  Xo  time ! 
and  what  was  time  given  you  for  ?  Merely  to  pass  away  ? 
Merely  to  procure  meat,  and  drink,  and  raiment  ?  Merely 
to  accumulate  wealth  ?  Xo  !  it  was  given  you  for  none  of 
these  :  it  was  given  to  prepare  for  Eternity.  The  rest 
should  be  all  by-play,  just  as  a  traveller  amuses  or  employs 
himself  while  he  has  his  eye  steadily  fixed  upon  his  Home. 
That  is  the  end  of  his  journey :  other  things  are  only 
means  or  accompaniments.  And  so  with  Eternity.  That 
is  the  end  of  all,  the  great  goal  of  life :  and  every  thing, 
save  preparation  for  that,  should  be  handled  lightly,  so  that 
when  Christ  passes  by  and  calls  you,  you  may  be  ready  to 
leave  all  and  follow  Him. 


^trtccntl)  pennon. 


But  Martha  was  cumhered  about  much  serving,  and  came  to  him, 
and  said,  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sister  hath  left  me  to 
serve  alone  1  bid  her  therefore  that  she  help  me.  And  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said  unto  her,  Martha,  Martha,  thou  a?"t  careful  and 
troubled  about  many  things:  but  one  thing  is  needful :  and  Mary 
hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken  away  from 
her.  —  S.  Luke  x.  40-42. 


HENEVER  we  can  find  a  question  fairly  put  to  our 


?  T  Saviour,  we  may  be  sure,  if  it  be  a  practical  one,  of 
having  the  proper  answer  to  it  for  the  use  and  blessing 
of  the  world.  Idle  questions  He  always  put  aside  with  an 
admonition  or  with  a  rebuke ;  but  those  which  really  looked 
to  duty  or  to  holiness  received  a  solution  which  removed 
them  ever  after  from  the  sphere  of  doubt  or  difficulty.  And 
it  is  a  great  comfort  that  so  many  points  have  been  decided 
by  our  Lord  Himself,  —  points  which  lie  very  near  our  do- 
mestic and  social  happiness.  Nothing  perplexes  a  Christian 
more,  seeing  that  he  is  called  upon  to  act  amid  complicate 
duties,  than  to  know  how  to  frame  his  life,  so  that  he  may 
fulfil  them  all :  so  that,  while  acting  for  God  and  for  the 
glory  of  religion  in  one  direction,  he  may  not  bring  reproach 
upon  that  same  cause  by  neglect  in  some  other  direction. 
These  cases  are  continually  presenting  themselves,  and  are 
the  cause  of  much  embarrassment  to  the  conscientious  child 
of  God.  If  he  knew  his  proper  course,  he  would  be  most 
happy  to  pursue  it.  His  difficulty  does  not  lie  with  his  will 
or  his  resolution  to  do  what  is  right,  but  with  his  knowl- 
edge.   His  duty  is  not  plain  before  him ;  he  wants  advice 


The  busy  Woman 's  Religious  Difficulties.  129 

and  counsel ;  he  desires  the  judgment  of  one  more  experi- 
enced than  himself  in  the  Christian  life.  Happy  for  him, 
if,  under  such  circumstances,  he  can  find  a  friend  who  will 
guide  him  in  his  action ;  —  still  more  happy,  if  he  can  be 
pointed  to  his  Bible,  and  can  read  the  solution  to  his  diffi- 
culty in  the  very  language  of  his  blessed  Master. 

It  is  surprising  how  little  Christians  look  to  the  Script- 
ures for  a  sure  rule  of  duty.  They  take  up  the  erroneous 
notion  that  the  teachings  of  Christ  were  meant  more  espe- 
cially for  the  age  in  which  He  lived,  and  for  that  peculiar 
state  of  society.  Miserable  mistake  !  for  the  value  of  the 
Bible  consists  in  its  enunciation  of  general  principles, 
meant  for  all  people  and  for  all  times,  and  suitable  for  all. 
It  was  impossible,  in  a  Book  intended  for  the  world,  to  take 
up  every  single  case  of  conscience,  every  conflict  of  duties, 
every  point  of  casuistry,  and  settle  it  upon  its  merits.  The 
world  itself,  as  S.  John  says,  could  not  contain  the  books 
that  should  be  written  after  such  a  plan.  Our  Lord  has 
adopted  the  only  possible  course, — that  of  enunciating, 
from  a  given  case,  a  general  principle,  which  may  be  after- 
wards applied  to  all  cases  of  a  like  kind.  They  are  the 
foundation  of  all  Christian  ethics,  these  sayings  of  Christ ; 
and  are  to  be  applied  to  our  doubts  and  difficulties,  as  they 
may  arise,  for  their  settlement  and  removal.  They  belong 
to  us  as  much  as  to  any  period  of  the  world ;  they  are  the 
inheritance  of  all  Christian  people ;  and  if  any  one  fails  to 
use  them,  because  they  were  proclaimed  ages  ago,  and  in  a 
different  quarter  of  the  world,  he  may  just  as  well,  for  the 
same  reason,  refuse  to  rest  upon  any  of  the  promises  or 
hopes  of  the  Bible.  The  morals  of  the  Bible,  its  rules  of 
practical  duty,  were  promulgated  no  earlier  than  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible ;  and  if  we  found  our  assurance  of  ever- 
lasting life  upon  the  Atonement  of  Christ,  we  may  surely 
rest  our  solution  of  practical  duty  upon  the  principles  which 
9 


1 30     The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties. 

He  laid  down.  Whenever  He  has  spoken,  that  is  enough 
for  man ;  His  sayings  are  divine,  and  therefore  catholic ; 
are  the  inspiration  of  God,  and  therefore  the  rule  of  duty 
for  man  all  the  world  over,  and  in  all  the  changes  of  the 
world. 

In  the  verses  from  which  I  preach,  a  case  was  laid  before 
our  Saviour  of  the  simplest  kind,  and  yet  covering  a  vast 
question,  one  which  demands  solution  every  time  that  any 
conflict  seems  to  arise  between  our  domestic  and  our  relig- 
ious duties.  It  arose  out  of  the  common  every-day  arrange- 
ments of  a  household,  and  may,  therefore,  be  a  question  in 
every  family,  concerning  every  member  of  that  family.  Its 
very  simpleness  and  universality  make  up  its  vastness,  for 
what  it  lacks  in  seeming  importance,  it  makes  up  by  its 
wide  embrace.  Our  Lord,  it  appears,  was  received  by  a 
woman,  named  Martha,  into  her  house.  She  seems  to 
have  been  the  elder  sister,  and  a  very  particular  house- 
keeper. She  had  a  younger  sister,  called  Mary,  who  em- 
braced the  opportunity  —  letting  housekeeping  alone  for 
the  time  —  of  sitting  at  Jesus'  feet,  and  hearing  His  words 
of  truth  and  eternity.  This  vexed  Martha,  and  she  applied 
to  our  Lord  for  redress  :  "  Lord,  dost  not  thou  care  that 
my  sister  hath  left  me  to  serve  alone?  bid  her  therefore 
that  she  help  me."  This  gave  occasion  to  our  Lord  to 
place  this  domestic  question,  —  one  which  concerns  not 
only  every  woman,  but  every  man  in  this  congregation,  — 
upon  its  proper  footing.  "  And  Jesus  answered  and  said 
unto  her,  Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  careful  and  troubled 
about  many  things  :  but  one  thing  is  needful :  and  Mary 
hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken  away 
from  her." 

Nothing  is  more  important  for  the  comfort  and  happiness 
of  the  domestic  circle  than  that  a  house  should  be  well  or- 
dered ;  and  this  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  province  of 


The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties.  131 

the  woman.  Public  duties,  professional  occupations,  the 
necessity  of  providing  for  a  family,  all  force  the  man  away 
from  his  home  for  a  very  large  portion  of  his  time.  This 
casts  upon  the  woman  the  management  of  things  at  home, 
of  children,  of  servants,  and  generally  of  the  social  rela- 
tions of  the  family.  Upon  her  are  supposed  to  depend  the 
neatness,  the  comfort,  the  happiness  of  home.  If  these 
are  not  secured,  she  receives  the  blame ;  and  even  when 
they  are  secured,  unless  they  be  secured  just  in  a  certain 
way,  after  a  particular  model,  she  is  very  apt  to  suffer  from 
the  tongue  of  criticism.  No  wonder,  then,  that  there  are 
many  Marthas  in  the  world,  —  mothers,  or  elder  sisters,  — 
who  are  cumbered  about  much  serving ;  who  are  made 
anxious  every  day,  and  almost  every  hour,  lest  every  thing 
should  not  be  as  it  ought ;  who  are  tempted  to  negiect,  as 
Martha  did,  their  religious  duties,  for  fear  they  may  neglect 
their  domestic  ones.  To  all  such,  Christ  lays  down  the 
important  principle,  that  if  one  or  the  other  has  to  be  laid 
aside,  religion  is  the  "  one  thing  needful,"  and  every  thing 
ought  to  be  sacrificed  for  that. 

The  case  of  the  woman  is  very  hard  in  this  world ;  and 
harder  than  it  ought  to  be,  because  it  is  misunderstood. 
Man  expects  very  often  from  woman  that  which  he  has  no 
Scriptural  right  to  expect.  As  a  quaint  old  English  writer 
says  :  "  The  rib  of  which  woman  was  made  was  not  taken 
from  man's  head,  that  she  might  rule  over  him ;  nor  from 
his  feet,  that  she  might  be  his  servant ;  but  from  his  left 
side,  next  to  his  heart,  that  she  might  be  his  companion, 
his  friend,  the  dearest  object  of  his  affection."  And  S.  Paul, 
in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  says :  "  But  I  would  have 
you  know,  that  the  head  of  every  man  is  Christ ;  and  the 
head  of  the  woman  is  the  man  ;  and  the  head  of  Christ  is 
God." 1    Now  mark,  the  man  is  the  head  of  the  woman  as 

1  1  Cor.  xi.  3. 


132     The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties. 

God  is  the  head  of  Christ :  that  is,  she  is  subordinate  to 
him,  nothing  more  5  he  is  expected  to  deal  with  her  as  God 
dealt  with  Christ,  to  exact  of  her  her  lawful  duty  and  no 
more ;  not  to  make  a  servant  of  her  whom  God  gave  him 
for  a  wife  ;  not  to  forget  that  she  has  duties,  feelings,  and 
above  all  a  soul ;  not  to  require  that  she  shall  sacrifice  her 
conscience  to  his  pleasure,  or  even  comfort ;  not  to  derange 
every  thing  by  his  disorderly  habits,  and  then  require  of  her 
all  his  own  deficiencies;  not  to  leave  servants,  children, 
household  economy,  altogether  to  her  weakness.  She  is 
his  helpmeet.  She  is  only  one  half  of  the  domestic  admin- 
istration :  and  unless  he  support  her  by  his  authority  and 
his  presence,  he  is  making  her  a  drudge  instead  of  a  wife ; 
he  is  degrading  her  from  her  true  position,  and  returning 
to  her  toil  for  her  love,  discomfort  for  her  affection.  Man, 
too  often,  thinks  that  his  duty  is  done,  when  he  provides 
the  money  for  the  expenditures  of  his  household.  As  if  a 
woman's  heart  could  be  satisfied  with  that !  —  as  if  it  did 
not  yearn  for  love,  for  honor,  for  attention,  for  companion- 
ship, for  a  heart  into  which  to  pour  all  its  weaknesses,  for  a 
strong  arm  on  which  to  lean  in  all  its  trials.  When  man 
remembers  what  woman  is  to  him ;  how  much  she  is  called 
upon  to  bear  and  to  suffer  because  of  him ;  how  weak  her 
body  is,  and  how  inferior  her  authority :  he  ought  to  limit 
his  expectations,  if  he  does  not  give  her  his  support ;  he 
ought  to  be  satisfied  with  some  imperfectness,  if  he  does 
not  strengthen  her  by  his  presence  and  counsel. 

It  is  when  a  husband  gives  his  wife  this  love  and  con- 
fidence, that  she  feels  most  keenly  the  conflict  of  duties 
which  may  sometimes  arise  between  her  domestic  circle  and 
her  God.  When  these  are  not  given  her,  —  when  she  per- 
ceives that  she  is  merely  the  head  servant  in  the  family,  ex- 
pected to  minister  to  the  pleasures  and  caprices  of  a  master, 
—  she  loses  the  sense  of  her  own  dignity,  and  becomes  care- 


The  busy  Woman \y  Religious  Difficulties,  133 

less  of  her  duties  either  to  God  or  man.  She  may,  from 
habit  and  training,  preserve  order  around  her :  but  the 
spirit  is  gone ;  the  life  of  love  has  died  out,  and  with  it  has 
hope  withered  and  fled.  There  is  no  longer  any  conflict ; 
misery  has  either  driven  her  entirely  to  God,  or  has  hard- 
ened her  heart  against  him.  But  to  the  beloved  and  hon- 
ored wife,  to  the  caressed  and  cherished  daughter,  to  the 
sister  made  happy  by  a  brother's  affection,  the  temptation 
is  great  to  sacrifice  God  upon  the  domestic  altar ;  to  put 
His  claims  aside  when  the  comfort  or  pleasure  of  those  they 
love  are  interfered  with ;  to  be  cumbered  with  much  serv- 
ing, when  they  should  be  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and 
listening  to  His  instruction.  With  them  there  is  a  real 
conflict  of  duties ;  and  then  it  is  that  the  conscientious  soul 
would  fain  understand  what  is  the  line  of  duty,  and  where 
serving  should  cease  and  give  place  to  religion. 

A  woman  has  a  soul  as  well  as  a  man  ;  and,  therefore, 
is  entitled  to  save  it.  Its  salvation  depends  upon  the  use 
of  the  same  means  as  those  which  rescue  man  from  de- 
struction. Unless,  therefore,  she  performs  her  religious 
duties, — those  which  are  private  as  well  as  those  which 
are  public,  —  she  endangers  her  spiritual  life.  Any  serv- 
ing, therefore,  which  requires  her  to  neglect  those  duties, 
is  too  much  serving.  She  is  not  bound  to  peril  her  soul 
for  her  house.  Her  relations  to  God  are  prior  to  her  rela- 
tions to  her  husband,  and  are  of  a  higher  nature.  When 
they  come,  therefore,  into  any  necessary  conflict,  her  do- 
mestic duties  must  yield.  They  can  never  be  put  as  a  sub- 
stitute in  the  place  of  religious  duties.  God  is  before  all, 
and  above  all ;  and  husband,  children,  parents,  brothers, 
servants,  every  thing,  must  give  way  before  Him,  so  far  as 
He  has  required  it.  He  must  be  worshipped  and  served 
before  all  others,  up  to  the  measure  that  He  has  required 
worship  and  service.    This  is  the  general  principle  devel- 


1 34    The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties. 

oped  by  the  text :  "  Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  careful  and 
troubled  about  many  things :  but  one  thing  is  needful :  and 
Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken 
away  from  her." 

But  while  this  is  the  general  principle,  it  must  be 
guarded  carefully  and  conscientiously  on  all  sides.  While 
the  wife,  or  the  sister,  or  the  daughter,  has  the  right  to 
claim  time  and  arrangements  for  all  necessary  religious 
duties,  for  prayer,  for  private  reading  and  meditation,  for 
communion  with  God,  for  public  religious  worship  upon  the 
Lord's  day,  for  the  instruction  of  her  children  and  ser- 
vants :  she  has  no  right  to  neglect  her  domestic  duties  for 
any  thing  like  religious  dissipation.  Her  husband  and  chil- 
dren, and  the  happiness  of  her  home,  are  not  to  be  sacrificed 
to  societies  and  meetings,  and  all  the  array  of  benevolent 
schemes.  These  are  very  good,  and  very  necessary :  but 
good  only  for  those  who  have  no  duties  to  interfere  with 
them,  and  necessary  only  so  far  as  organization  is  required 
for  their  accomplishment.  While  a  truly  harmonious 
Christian  character  demands  the  full  performance  of  all 
our  religious  duties,  it  requires  equally  the  fulfillment  of  all 
the  requirements  of  our  station  and  position ;  and  while 
the  one  cannot  be  neglected  without  danger,  no  more  can 
the  other  be  thrust  aside  for  the  mere  excitements  of  re- 
ligion. The  time  for  contemplative  holiness  may  be  right- 
fully claimed,  but  only  that  it  may  surround  the  family 
circle  with  the  halo  of  practical  religion. 

Nor  may  the  woman  complain  that  she  has  not  time  for 
her  religious  duties,  when  the  want  shall  arise  from  her 
own  irregular  habits.  If  by  late  rising,  or  a  lack  of  order, 
or  a  love  of  pleasure,  she  let  the  time  slip  for  communion 
with  her  God,  —  the  precious  time  which  she  can  never 
overtake  again  through  the  day,  —  she  shall  not  be  able  to 
harmonize  her  duties.    It  will  be  a  perpetual  conflict ;  but 


The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties.  135 

a  conflict  of  her  own  making-,  a  trouble  of  conscience  of 
her  own  creation.  For  this  there  is  no  remedy  save  refor- 
mation, —  save  a  judging  of  herself  honestly,  as  in  the 
sight  of  God.  For  any  neglect  arising  from  this  cause, 
she  will  necessarily  suffer  in  her  feelings  of  remorse  if  she 
be  a  true  child  of  God ;  or,  if  not,  in  her  domestic  happi- 
ness. The  thing  is  inevitable.  The  rule  of  God's  govern- 
ment, "  Be  sure  your  sin  will  find  you  out,"  will  come  home 
under  these  circumstances,  —  will  terminate  in  evil,  and  in 
misery. 

But  there  is  another  state  of  things  which  calls  for  a 
different  application  of  the  same  principle;  and  that  is, 
where  the  conflict  does  not  arise  from  others,  but  from 
within  ourselves,  —  where  our  religious  character  is  inter- 
fered with  by  our  own  over-particularity,  and  by  our  too 
great  anxiety  and  carefulness  about  domestic  matters. 
Women  are  sometimes  so  anxious  to  have  every  thing 
around  them  orderly  and  comfortable,  as  to  make  every- 
body uncomfortable  who  conies  within  their  reach ;  and,  in 
the  pursuit  of  this  end,  they  violate  many  of  the  precepts 
of  the  Bible,  besides  sacrificing  their  own  comfort.  For 
life  is  a  complicate  thing,  and  has  its  duties  in  all  direc- 
tions ;  and  if  we  pursue  those  duties  violently  in  one  direc- 
tion, we  are  sure  to  stumble  over  others  in  some  other 
direction.  Now  the  Marthas  of  this  world  must  not  forget 
that  husband,  children,  servants,  friends,  all  have  rights  in 
the  family ;  and  that  towards  them  they  have  correlative 
duties  :  that  if  this  over-particularity  makes  them  reproach- 
ful to  the  husband,  fretful  to  the  children,  threatening  to 
the  servants,  inhospitable  to  friends,  it  is  a  sin,  and  not  the 
fulfillment  of  a  duty ;  it  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  comfort  of 
home  to  a  fancied  order,  which  is  really  disorder  in  the 
sight  of  God.  The  woman  imagines  that  she  is  fulfilling 
her  duty ;  and  she  finds  that  her  happiness  is  disturbed, 


1 36    The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties. 

that  her  home  is  made  uncomfortable,  and  that  her  spir- 
ituality is  eaten  out.  What  must  she  do  ?  Conquer  herself 
and  not  others ;  learn  to  give  up  her  habits,  that  others 
may  be  comfortable  around  her;  adopt  the  conclusion 
that  her  much  serving  cannot  be  right,  if  it  lead  her  to 
quarrel  with  her  husband,  when  the  Bible  says,  "  Wives, 
submit  yourselves  unto  your  own  husbands,  as  unto  the 
Lord ;  " 1  —  if  it  induce  her  to  provoke  her  children  to 
wrath,  when  the  Bible  says,  "  Provoke  not  your  children 
to  wrath ;  " 2  —  if  it  disturb  her  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
make  her  unjust  and  unequal  to  her  servants,  when  the 
Scriptures  have  issued  their  commands  against  all  these 
things.  Order,  neatness,  elegance,  are  very  excellent 
things,  but  too  dearly  purchased  when  paid  for  by  the  vio- 
lation of  any  of  the  commands  of  God's  moral  law.  A 
notable  Martha  may  make  a  home  very  comfortable  within 
due  limits,  but  she  may  also  make  it  very  uncomfortable. 

A  woman  is  likewise  serving  too  much  when  she  is  care- 
ful and  troubled  about  many  things.  In  this  case  the  prin- 
cipal sufferer  is  herself.  A  nervous,  anxious  condition  of 
mind,  while  it  distresses  others,  is  a  perfect  self-tormentor, 
eating  out  the  comfort  and  peace  of  the  soul.  And  this 
will  agitate  itself  about  domestic  matters,  —  for  home  is 
woman's  noblest  sphere.  This  may  be  a  natural  tempera- 
ment ;  if  so,  it  is  unfortunate  :  but  have  you  ever  thought 
that  Christ  has  a  feeling  for  infirmities  of  this  kind,  and 
will  help  them  ?  It  is  not  irremediable.  It  may  be  over- 
come. Faith  and  prayer  can  accomplish  much  in  a  case 
like  this.  But,  apart  from  natural  temperament,  there 
may  be  an  unnecessary  anxiety,  a  preying  care,  arising  out 
of  much  serving,  which  shall  eat  out  the  spiritual  peace 
and  comfort  of  the  Christian.  This  is  more  than  duty 
requires.    The  highest  encomium  which  our  Saviour  ever 

1  Ephes.  v.  22.  2  Ibid.  vi.  4. 


The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties.  137 

passed  upon  a  woman  was,  that  "she  had  done  what  she 
could.'3  Be  satisfied  with  this.  Let  not  over  anxiety  affect 
your  spiritual  life.  Do  your  best,  in  humility  and  prayer, 
and  leave  the  consequences  to  God.  You  may  not  satisfy 
man,  but  you  will  satisfy  God.  He  sees  your  weaknesses ; 
He  knows  your  infirmities.  Cast  your  care  upon  Him,  who 
careth  for  you.  Sacrifice  not  your  soul  before  any  require- 
ments of  man.  "  But  one  thing  is  needful.''5  Choose  that 
part,  and  it  shall  never  be  taken  away  from  you.  Fault- 
finding husbands,  surly  fathers,  ungrateful  brothers,  shall 
in  the  end  acknowledge  your  meekness  and  your  faithful- 
ness, —  shall,  in  the  days  of  darkness,  or  in  the  hour  of 
necessity,  or  when  you  are  laid  in  the  grave,  rise  up  and 
call  you  blessed. 

You  thus  perceive,  my  beloved  hearers,  that  the  rule  of 
Christ  applies  to  all  these  cases,  and  to  numberless  others 
which  might  be  cited,  and  they  must  be  regulated  by  it. 
Serving  is  necessary,  is  woman's  part  of  the  household 
economy ;  and  Christ  did  not  blame  that :  it  was  only  the 
character  and  spirit  of  that  particular  woman,  who  was 
cumbered  with  much  serving,  who  was  careful  and  troubled 
about  many  things,  —  so  cumbered  that  she  could  not  at- 
tend to  her  religious  duties,  so  careful  and  troubled  that 
she  had  not  time  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Take  this 
principle  with  you,  children  of  God,  regulate  your  duties 
by  it,  and  you  will  find  God's  blessing  to  be  with  you  in  all 
your  labors,  however  insignificant.  The  position  of  woman 
is  a  grand  one,  standing,  as  she  does,  the  angel  of  the 
domestic  circle,  the  comforter  of  the  husband,  the  guide  of 
the  children,  the  mistress  of  the  servants,  the  controlling 
spirit  of  the  household,  the  centre  of  love  for  the  hearts 
that  cluster  around  her.  How  holy  should  she  be  !  how 
full  of  the  divine  spirit !  How  little  does  she  understand 
her  greatness,  when  she  expends  all  her  energies  upon 


138    The  busy  Woman  s  Religious  Difficulties. 

serving !  That  is  but  a  small  part  of  her  duty,  —  the  very 
smallest  part.  Her  quiet  spirit  should  be  prepared  to  calm 
the  harassed  and  wearied  mind  of  her  husband,  —  harassed 
and  wearied  by  its  conflicts  with  the  world ;  to  drive  away 
the  cares  and  the  troubles  which  oppress  him ;  to  impart 
strength  to  his  virtue,  and  courage  to  his  soul;  to  win 
him  to  the  service  of  his  God.  Her  loving  heart  should  be 
tuned  to  that  Divine  harmony  which  shall  make  it  accord- 
ant with  the  innocent  heart  of  childhood,  that  she  may 
guide  it  in  the  path  of  truth  and  Holiness.  Her  firm  prin- 
ciple should  be  strung  to  that  lofty  justice  which  shall 
make  itself  known  throughout  her  retinue  of  servants, 
until  they  shall  feel  it  to  be  their  highest  privilege  to 
"  look  unto  the  hand  of  their  mistress."  And  all  this, 
manifold  as  it  is,  high  and  holy  as  it  is,  can  be  done  only 
when  she  sits  first  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  ;  —  only  when  she 
is  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Her  presence  is  felt  every- 
where ;  vibrates  through  every  nerve  of  the  holy  circle  of 
Home :  but,  oh !  how  beautiful  is  it,  when  she  comes,  ra- 
diant from  the  presence  of  her  God,  her  face  shining  as  it 
were  that  of  an  Angel ! 


fourteenth  Sermon, 


How  long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  lodge  within  thee?  —  Jere- 
miah iv.  14. 

nnH OUGHT  is  usually  looked  upon  as  an  airy  and  volatile 


existence,  running  to  and  fro  with  the  rapidity  of 
lightning,  coming  we  scarcely  know  whence,  and  flitting 
we  scarcely  know  whither.  We  understand,  in  a  general 
way,  that  it  has  been  made  a  matter  of  science ;  that  indi- 
viduals, whom  we  sneeringly  speak  of  as  metaphysicians, 
have  endeavored  to  ascertain  the  laws  of  its  operation,  and 
to  establish  rules  for  its  government  and  guidance.  We 
also  know,  that  in  severely  disciplined  minds  it  is  subjected 
to  regulations  which  control  its  wanderings  and  concen- 
trate its  energy.  But  we  do  not  know,  or  else  we  do  not 
consider,  that  like  every  thing  that  exists  thought  has  its 
natural  laws  ;  and  that  if  it  be  not  disciplined,  it  will  obey 
those  laws  as  certainly  as  any  thing  else  in  creation  answers 
to  the  natural  impulses  which  have  been  impressed  upon  it 
by  the  hands  of  the  Deity.  And  overlooking  this  most 
important  truth,  we  become  unconsciously  subject  to  a  do- 
minion which  rules  over  us  with  a  rod  of  iron,  making  us 
very  slaves  to  that  over  which  God  intended  us  to  be  mas- 
ters and  governors.  Let  us  illustrate  and  justify  the  ex- 
pression of  the  prophet  in  our  text,  by  briefly  considering 
the  laws  of  thought  which  stand  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject. 

In  the  question  which  Jeremiah  asks  of  Jerusalem  in 
our  text,  his  words  are  these :  "  How  long  shall  thy  vain 


140         The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts. 

thoughts  lodge  within  thee  9  "  as  if  certain  thoughts  might 
be  spoken  of  as  having  taken  up  their  abode  in  the  mind ; 
as  being  privileged  residents  there ;  while  all  other  thoughts 
are  treated  as  mere  visitors.  This  expression  seems,  at 
first  hearing,  to  be  contrary  to  our  usual  conception  of 
thought,  —  to  make  that  fixed,  which  we  consider  variable ; 
certain,  which  we  deem  uncertain.  A  little  consideration, 
however,  will  convince  us  that  the  expression  of  the  prophet 
is  literally  and  philosophically  true  ;  and  a  few  illustrations 
will  satisfy  you  that  there  are  thoughts  —  however  uncon- 
scious you  may  be  of  their  power  —  which  do  lodge  within 
you,  and  look  upon  all  other  thoughts  as  intruders,  whom 
it  is  their  duty  to  expel  as  quickly  and  as  completely  as 
possible. 

We  habitually  speak,  in  ordinary  conversation,  of  a  per- 
son's thoughts  running  in  a  certain  channel,  —  of  their 
being  steadily  fixed  upon  a  given  subject,  —  of  a  man's 
having  no  thoughts  for  any  thing  else  save  that  which,  for 
the  time,  absorbs  him :  and  all  this  is  but  a  truthful  utter- 
ance of  the  natural  laws  which  direct  and  govern  the 
mind.  When  we  speak,  however,  after  this  fashion,  we 
suppose  all  this  to  be  voluntary.  We  never  admit  but  that 
these  thoughts  are  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  person 
of  whom  we  are  speaking,  and  that  he  can  change  their 
train  and  current  whenever  he  pleases.  And  here  it  is  — 
just  at  this  point  —  that  we  are  so  mistaken  ;  —  that  we 
are  overlooking  a  natural  law,  which,  operating  at  first  in 
agreement  with  our  will,  quietly  gets  dominion  over  us, 
and  rules  that  will  with  a  terrible  and  fatal  despotism.  It 
is  like  every  other  slavery  to  which  we  become  subject. 
The  transition  from  freedom  to  slavery  is  never  abrupt  and 
sudden.  It  is  gradual  and  stealthy  in  its  steps,  seeming  to 
be  the  result  not  so  much  of  another's  as  of  our  own  will ; 
and  it  is  not  until  we  feel  the  chains  around  us,  and  we  are 


The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts.  141 

anxious  to  snap  them  asunder,  that  we  realize  how  much 
we  had  been  subject  to  controlling  influences,  even  while 
we  supposed  that  we  were  altogether  voluntary  agents. 
Precisely  so  with  our  trains  of  thought.  At  first  these 
trains  are  voluntary ;  they  are  fallen  into  either  from  edu- 
cation, or  from  interest,  or  because  they  are  pleasant  to  us. 
We  indulge  them ;  we  connect  them  with  our  every-day 
feelings  and  affections ;  they  tinge  by  degrees  every  thing 
we  look  upon  or  are  connected  with  :  and  thus  an  influence 
is  given  to  them  which  they  could  never  have  attained, 
save  by  our  own  consent.  When  first  adopted,  they  could 
have  been  controlled.  We  then  admitted  and  dismissed 
them  at  our  will.  But,  not  preserving  our  mastery,  they 
soon  mastered  us ;  and,  instead  of  visitors,  coming  and 
going  when  their  time  was  out,  they  now  lodge  within  us, 
as  the  prophet  expresses  it,  and  soon  tell  us  that  all  other 
thoughts  are  to  be  the  visitors,  while  they  retain  possession, 
and  fully  occupy  the  mind.  The  laws  of  habit  and  of  asso- 
ciation have  done  their  work,  and  we  become  very  slaves ; 
unless  we  have  the  nerve,  —  which  few  possess,  —  to  grap- 
ple with  the  tyrants,  and  dethrone  them. 

It  is  the  effect  of  this  law  of  association  upon  the  relig- 
ious character,  that  I  desire  to  develop ;  and  I  will  con- 
fine my  illustration  of  the  imperiousness  of  these  lodgers, 
when  once  they  get  possession,  to  cases  in  which  they  in- 
terfere with  our  religious  duties.  Let  any  one  of  you  — 
whether  a  professor  of  religion  or  not  —  be  absorbed  in 
occupation  of  any  kind,  and  I  defy  you,  without  an  im- 
mense struggle,  to  perform  any  religious  duty,  in  which 
these  habitual  trains  of  thought  do  not  hurry  off  the  at- 
tention and  the  feelings,  and  interrupt,  if  not  altogether 
break  up,  your  communings  with  God.  Place  the  Word  of 
God  before  you,  realize  in  large  measure  its  divine  Revela- 
tion, determine  that  you  will  study  and  profit  by  that  Book ; 


142  The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts. 

but,  before  a  very  few  minutes  shall  have  elapsed,  you  will 
be  humbled  by  finding  that  your  thoughts  are  upon  your 
cares,  or  your  merchandise,  or  your  pleasure,  or  your  inter- 
ests. You  gather  them  back  from  the  subjects  after  which 
they  have  run  astray.  You  renew  your  determination  not 
to  be  disturbed  in  your  religious  duties.  But  very  soon 
you  find  that  thought  is  more  uncontrollable  than  you 
supposed  it,  and  that  habit  and  association  have  become 
stronger  than  the  will.  Disgusted  at  this  condition  of 
things,  you  suppose  that  you  have  not  sufficiently  realized 
the  sacredness  of  the  Bible,  and  you  determine  to  engage 
in  some  closer  act  of  devotion,  —  one  that  shall  bring  you 
nearer  to  the  awful  presence  of  God.  You  fall  upon  your 
knees ;  you  begin,  in  earnest,  to  pray  and  to  supplicate.  So 
long  as  you  are  watchful  over  yourself,  you  are  praying,  you 
are  supplicating;  but  suddenly  you  find  that  some  word 
uttered  in  your  prayer,  some  topic  laid  before  God,  some 
want,  or  necessity,  or  infirmity,  —  nay,  the  very  prayer  you 
are  uttering  against  wandering  thoughts,  —  has  carried 
away  your  thoughts  upon  their  habitual  train,  and  that  you 
are  offering  a  lip-service  and  not  a  service  of  the  heart. 
And  how  terribly  these  wandering  thoughts  interfere  with 
the  worship  of  the  Sanctuary !  How  they  intrude  them- 
selves at  every  point,  interrupting  devotion,  and  deafening 
the  ear  lest  it  should  hear  and  understand,  and  the  soul  be 
converted  and  live.  In  all  these  cases,  the  conclusion  is 
forced  upon  us  that  we  are  subject  to  these  lodgers;  that 
they  have  become  the  possessors  of  our  minds ;  and  that, 
whether  we  will  or  not,  we  are  dragged  along  by  them  con- 
trary to  our  better  feelings  and  holier  desires. 

These  are  thoughts,  then,  which  lodge  within  us, — 
which  are  the  habitual  occupants  of  our  minds  :  and  it  is 
against  such  that  the  prophet  directs  his  inquiry.  But  he 
asks  not  his  question  of  all  thoughts.    He  confines  it  to 


The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts.  143 

vain  thoughts  !  "  How  long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  lodge 
within  thee  ? "  And  you  may  ask,  u  Are  all  trains  of 
thought  connected  with  the  business  or  the  interests  of 
Life  vain  ?  How  can  life  be  carried  on  without  such  trains 
of  thought  ?  How  can  a  man  succeed,  unless  he  fixes  his 
mind  steadily  upon  a  given  purpose,  and  pursues  it  with 
the  energy  of  a  resolute  will  ?  "  A  very  fair  question,  and 
one  which  I  will  answer  by  gradual  approach,  keeping  in 
view,  meanwhile,  the  pungent  inquiry  of  the  prophet. 

What  are  vain  thoughts?  What  are  such  trains  of 
thought  as  we  should  not  permit  to  lodge  within  us  ?  This 
is  the  first  step  to  the  answer  of  your  question  ;  and  it 
must  be  settled  by  the  balances  of  the  Sanctuary.  Provi- 
dentially, we  possess  the  writings  of  a  man  who  has  him- 
self sounded  all  the  depths  of  thought,  and  has  deter- 
mined, from  his  own  experience  as  well  as  under  the  inspi- 
ration of  God,  what  thoughts  are  vain,  and  what  useful, 
and  where  the  line  must  be  drawn  between  these  classes. 
The  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  seems  to  have  been  written  for 
the  very  purpose  of  replying  to  this  inquiry.  Let  us  trace 
the  experience  and  note  the  decision  of  Solomon,  and  we 
shall  then  be  prepared  to  state  the  relation  which  trains  of 
thought  connected  with  the  business  and  pleasure  of  life 
should  hold  to  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  creature. 

There  are  trains  of  thought  which  most  of  you  would 
agree  with  me  in  pronouncing  vain,  and  we  would  deem  a 
man  frivolous  who  made  them  his  constant  companions. 
Even  these,  however,  Solomon  did  not  overlook.  In  sound- 
ing the  depths  of  human  life,  he  turned  first  to  those  trains 
of  thought  which  seemed  superficially  to  present  the  near- 
est approach  to  happiness.  He  gave  himself,  he  said,  to 
mirth  and  to  pleasure ;  those  were  the  thoughts  which  he 
first  made  to  lodge  within  him.  But  these  he  quickly  pro- 
nounced to  be  vanity,  and  worse  than  vanity :    "  I  said  of 


144  The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts. 

laughter,  It  is  mad :  and  of  mirth,  What  doeth  it  ?  "  1  He 
next  attempted  to  combine  pleasure  and  wisdom,  to  discover 
if  a  proper  proportion  of  ingredients  might  not  take  out 
the  sting  of  vanity  from  his  pursuits.  "  I  sought  in  mine 
heart  to  give  myself  unto  wine,  yet  acquainting  mine  heart 
with  wisdom :  " 2  but  these  trains  of  thought  he  likewise 
dismissed  as  vain.  Failing  here,  he  turned  himself  to  the 
pride  of  life.  All  the  wealth  which  the  gold  of  Ophir,  and 
the  spices  of  Arabia,  and  the  rich  tributes  of  the  East 
could  accumulate  for  him,  he  lavished  upon  houses  and 
gardens,  and  orchards  and  men-servants  and  maid-servants, 
and  all  the  delights  of  the  sons  of  men.  He  surrounded 
himself  with  pomp  and  luxury,  and  floated  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  homage  and  idolatry  that  might  have  satisfied  the 
greediest  imagination.  But  these  he  also  pronounces  as 
vain  thoughts :  "  Then  I  looked  "  —  was  his  lamentable 
confession  — "  on  all  the  works  that  my  hands  had  wrought, 
and  on  the  labor  that  I  had  labored  to  do  :  and,  behold, 
all  was  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit,  and  there  was  no 
profit  under  the  sun."  3  He  then  turned  himself  solely  to 
wisdom.  He  filled  his  mind  with  intellectual  trains  of 
thought.  He  compassed  all  the  knowledge  of  the  sons  of 
men.  Queens  and  nobles  gathered  to  his  feet  to  hear  his 
words  of  wisdom ;  and  when  they  heard,  confessed  that 
they  far  surpassed  his  wide-spread  fame.  These  noble 
trains  of  thought  —  the  highest  certainly  which  can  en- 
gage the  mind  of  man  —  he  acknowledges  to  be  as  far 
above  all  others,  as  spiritual  trains  of  thought  are  above 
them :  "  Then  I  saw,"  writes  he,  "  that  wisdom  excelleth 
folly,  as  far  as  light  excelleth  darkness  :  "  4  but  at  once  his 
clear  spirit  saw  the  weak  point  even  of  these,  and  he  ex- 
claims in  bitterness  of  spirit :  "  As  it  happeneth  to  the 
fool,  so  it  happeneth  even  to  me ;  and  why  was  I  then  more 
1  Eccles.  ii.  2.  2  Ibid.  3.  3  Ibid.  11.  4  Ibid.  13. 


The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts.  145 

wise  ?  Then  I  said  in  niy  heart,  that  this  also  is  vanity. 
Therefore  I  hated  life  :  for  all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of 
spirit."  1 

How  far  you  may  go  along,  my  beloved  hearers,  with  these 
conclusions  of  Solomon,  I  cannot  pretend  to  say.  Each 
of  you  will  have  your  own  stand-point,  beyond  which  you 
will  Dot  admit  vanity, — about  which  you  will  not  consent 
that  trains  of  thought  are  vain.  The  grave  student  will 
readily  consent  that  the  votaries  of  pleasure  are  altogether 
occupied  with  vain  thoughts,  which  ought  to  be  dislodged ; 
while  the  industrious  man  of  business  will  peradventure 
come  to  the  same  conclusion  about  the  student's  days  and 
nights  of  toil,  over  studies  which  make  no  money,  and 
books  which  bring  no  return  save  knowledge.  But  Solo- 
mon includes  them  all  in  one  sweeping  denunciation ;  al- 
lows no  exceptions :  and,  while  he  gives  each  its  proper 
grade,  he  concludes  them  all  to  be  vanity.  And  he  con- 
cludes correctly,  even  according  to  man's  own  estimate 
when  made  under  circumstances  in  which  all  things  can  be 
brought  to  their  true  proportions. 

The  first  reason  why  all  these  trains  of  thought  are  vain, 
is  because  nothing  finite  can  satisfy  the  cravings  of  a  crea- 
ture made  a  living  soul  by  the  inbreathing  of  the  Spirit  of 
the  Infinite.  The  body  of  man,  it  is  true,  was  made  of  the 
dust  of  the  earth ;  but  his  living  soul  is  the  breath  of  God. 
Nothing,  therefore,  can  ever  satisfy  man,  but  reunion  with 
God.  He  may,  like  Solomon,  drink  every  cup  of  excite- 
ment to  the  very  dregs,  and  he  shall  surely  find  Vanity  in- 
scribed within  them  all :  and  this,  not  only  with  trains  of 
thought  that  are  conversant  about  the  gratification  of  our 
sensual  nature,  but  with  those  also  wherein  the  mind  is 
fixed  upon  higher  and  nobler  topics.  When  we  read  that 
Alexander  wept  because  he  had  no  more  worlds  to  conquer, 
iEccles.ii.  15,  17. 

10 


146  The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts. 

or  listen  to  the  wailings  of  Byron  as  he  sweeps  his  lyre 
with  the  hand  of  despair,  confessing  in  the  anguish  of  his 
heart  that  the  vulture  of  unsatisfied  desires  is  gnawing  at 
his  vitals,  we  perhaps  feel  that  their  pursuits  were  not  such 
as  might  lead  to  peace  and  to  rest.  And  yet  they  were 
only  following  with  the  impetuosity  of  Genius,  what  com- 
mon minds  pursue  every  day  in  their  own  laggard  way, 
and  dignify  with  the  name  of  "  honorahle  ambition  "  and 
"  rational  pleasure."  But  when  we  turn  to  such  a  man  as 
Newton,  and  hear  him  —  after  a  life  spent  in  the  acquire- 
ment of  the  profoundest  knowledge,  in  the  discovery  of  the 
hidden  mysteries  of  things,  in  converse  with  Nature  and 
with  Nature's  God  in  their  most  glorious  developments  — 
confessing  that  so  far  from  being  satisfied,  he  could  only 
compare  himself  to  one  who  had  picked  up  a  few  poor  peb- 
bles upon  the  shore,  while  the  great  Ocean  of  Truth  lay  as 
yet  undiscovered  before  him :  we  must  feel,  with  Solomon, 
that  all  our  thoughts  are  indeed  vain  thoughts.  Or  if,  leav- 
ing him,  we  ask  the  acutest  skeptic  of  modern  times  for  his 
estimate  of  intellectual  absorption,  the  answer  will  come  to 
you  in  his  own  memorable  words,  —  memorable,  because 
illustrating  the  vanity  of  a  false  philosophy;  memorable, 
because  confirming  the  solemn  truth,  "  Be  sure  your  sin 
will  find  you  out ;  " 1  memorable,  because  exhibiting  the  re- 
action of  skeptical  teachings  upon  the  skeptic's  own  peace  : 
"  I  know  not,"  were  the  words  of  Mr.  Hume,  "  what  to 
believe.  I  feel  myself  to  be  afloat  upon  an  ocean  of  doubt, 
without  a  compass,  and  without  a  rudder."  If  these  be 
the  results  of  the  highest  trains  of  thought,  the  one  hum- 
bly engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  Nature's  truths,  the  other 
presumptuously  attempting  to  shut  God  out  of  His  own 
creation  :  well  may  we  conclude  that  vanity  and  vexation 
-of  spirit  are  written  upon  all  the  pursuits  of  men. 

1  Num.  xxxii.  23. 


The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts.  147 

Another  reason,  my  beloved  hearers,  why  all  these  trains 
of  thought  are  included  by  Solomon  under  the  general 
head  of  vanity,  is  because  they  cannot  profit  us  in  our  hour 
of  greatest  need.  If  there  be  a  future,  —  if,  beyond  this 
brief  existence,  there  stretches  an  eternity  of  life,  —  oh, 
of  how  little  moment  is  the  present,  with  all  its  business, 
and  cares,  and  pleasures,  and  petty  interests !  How  every 
thing  ought  to  look  to  that  moment  of  departure,  when 
we  shall  cross  the  line  between  Time  and  Eternity,  —  when 
we  shall  put  off  this  mortal  life,  and  begin  the  life  of  spirit 
and  immortality !  How  every  thought  should  overleap  the 
narrow  interval  of  our  threescore  years  and  ten,  and  con- 
centrate itself  upon  that  solemn  moment !  Vain  must  all 
thoughts  be,  miserably  vain  —  however  seemingly  necessary 
for  the  conduct  of  life  —  all  trains  of  thought,  which  can- 
not profit  us  then.  Think  you,  my  hearers,  when  that 
dread  moment  comes,  —  when,  stretched  upon  your  dying 
bed,  you  shall  be  called  to  make  that  narrow  field  the  scene 
of  unutterable  struggles  with  your  own  spirit  and  the  Spirit 
of  God, — that  you  shall  be  satisfied  to  gather  about  you 
the  thoughts  which  have  lodged  within  you  and  made  your 
minds  their  homes  ?  They  may  and  will  intrude  them- 
selves, I  know ;  but  will  not  your  effort  be  to  banish  them, 
that  thoughts  more  suited  to  such  a  time  may  rest  upon 
your  spirit?  Is  it  man's  wont,  when  dying,  to  summon 
before  him  the  trains  of  thought  in  which  he  has  indulged 
himself,  and  pass  with  them  into  the  world  of  spirits  ? 
Here  and  there  have  instances  occurred  of  such  a  course. 
Mirabeau's  was  a  striking  example  :  but  does  not  our  nat- 
ural instinct  cry  out  against  it  as  monstrous  ?  Man  meets 
Death,  not  like  a  brute,  senseless  and  apathetic ;  but  like  a 
rational  creature,  who,  whatever  may  have  been  his  forg'et- 
fulness  of  that  dread  hour,  now  that  it  has  come,  realizes 
its  deep  importance.    He  summons  to  his  bedside  the  min- 


148  The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts. 

ister  of  religion ;  he  asks  the  prayers  of  the  pious  and 
devout ;  he  grieves  that  so  many  precious  years  have 
been  wasted  upon  vanity;  and  acknowledges  —  when  too 
late,  perhaps,  for  remedy  —  that  the  only  train  of  thought 
which  was  of  any  real  importance  to  him,  was  the  only  one 
in  which  he  had  not  trained  himself.  Unless  man's  ordi- 
nary thoughts  were  vain  thoughts,  could  this  be  so? 
Should  he  be  loth  to  summon  them  about  him,  and  die 
with  them  in  his  heart  and  upon  his  lips  ?  Oh,  that  you 
would  heed  the  warnings  of  your  fellow-creatures,  and  be- 
gin at  once  to  strip  away  the  vain  thoughts  which  lodge 
within  you  ! 

And  now,  my  hearers,  I  am  prepared  to  ask  you  the 
question  of  the  prophet.  I  have  labored  to  illustrate  the 
natural  law  by  which  associated  trains  of  thought  take  pos- 
session of  us  and  lodge  within  us.  I  have  shown  you  that 
all  these  trains  of  thought,  unless  they  be  thoughts  of 
God  and  of  eternity,  are  thoughts  of  vanity,  which  can- 
not satisfy  the  spirit  while  it  is  embodied,  nor  comfort 
it  when  it  is  about  to  be  disembodied,  —  which  answer 
neither  for  life  nor  for  Death.  And  I  now  demand  of 
you,  as  rational  creatures,  "  How  long  shall  your  vain 
thoughts  lodge  within  you?"  How  long  will  you  consent 
to  pursue  a  course  which  promises  you  nothing  either  for 
time  or  for  eternity  ?  You  desire  happiness  ;  you  are  seek- 
ing it  hither  and  thither.  Although  baffled,  you  are  still 
pursuing;  although  disappointed,  you  are  still  hoping.  Al- 
though the  peltings  of  the  pitiless  storm  have  beaten  down 
your  web ;  so  soon  as  it  has  passed,  you  see  the  rainbow  in 
every  drop  that  glitters  on  its  broken  threads,  and  weave 
again.  Although  the  heavens  of  your  bliss  are  ever  rising 
as  you  advance,  you  still,  childlike,  expect  to  touch  their 
azure  when  you  reach  your  point.  Why,  oh  why,  children 
of  the  Divinity,  will  you  waste  your  energies  upon  such 


The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts.  149 

baseless  Visions  ?  Why,  when  the  Infinite  calls  to  you  in 
love  and  mercy  through  the  voice  of  his  incarnate  Son, 
saying,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  1  why  will  you  heedlessly 
press  on,  seeking  that  rest  in  the  finite  and  the  perishing  ? 
Why,  when  the  Fountain  of  living  waters  is  bubbling  forth 
from  the  foot  of  Jesu's  Cross  —  that  Fountain  of  which  He 
said :  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  never  thirst," 2  —  ivhy  will  you  needlessly  hew  out 
for  yourselves  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  that  can  hold  no 
water  ?  Why,  when  Death  is  cleaving  his  ruthless  track 
through  the  generations  of  your  fellow-creatures  that  he 
may  lay  his  inevitable  grasp  upon  you,  and  usher  you  into 
the  Eternal  world,  —  that  world  where  nothing  here  shall 
be  of  any  importance,  save  the  single  question  of  time 
improved  or  neglected,  —  why  will  you  concentrate,  upon 
mind  and  heart  and  feelings,  thoughts,  vain  thoughts, 
which  His  presence  will  scatter,  as  dreams  are  scattered 
when  the  awakening  comes  ?  A  mighty  work  is  before  you, 
in  the  dislodgment  of  your  vain  thoughts.  It  is  idle  to 
say  to  yourselves,  "  When  the  time  of  peril  comes,  we  will 
gather  our  strength,  and  battle  with  these  thoughts,  and 
drive  them  from  their  place  in  our  hearts."  That  time  of 
peril  is  your  dying  bed :  for  any  man  who  reasons  thus,  can 
mean  only  that.  Alas,  my  hearers,  you  know  neither  your 
own  weakness,  nor  your  enemy's  strength !  Let  not  him 
that  girdeth  on  his  harness  boast  himself  as  he  that  put- 
teth  it  off !  Grapple  with  that  enemy  now,  while  in  health 
of  body  and  vigor  of  mind,  whom  you  expect  so  easily  to 
triumph  over  when  a  tortured  body  and  a  weakened  intel- 
lect must  be  carried  into  the  conflict.  Try  your  strength 
with  the  vain  thoughts  that  lodge  within  you  now,  at  this 
present  moment,  and  see  if  they  can  be  so  easily  driven 

1  S.  Matt.  xi.  28.  2  g#  j0^n  [Yi  14, 


1 50  The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts. 

from  their  stronghold.  Are  the  habits  and  the  associations 
of  a  long  life  to  be  so  easily  broken  ?  Are  thoughts  that 
have  come  with  an  every-day  regularity  for  the  years  of  a 
lifetime,  that  have  intertwined  themselves  with  our  very 
individuality,  to  be  so  easily  discarded  at  our  wills  ?  The 
very  laws  and  proverbs  of  our  language  should  teach  you 
another  tale.  What  means  "  The  ruling  passion,  strong  in 
death,"  save  that  the  vain  thoughts  which  lodge  within  us 
assert  their  imperious  dominion  in  that  dread  hour,  and 
reign  supreme  ?  "  How  long,  how  long  shall  thy  vain 
thoughts  lodge  within  thee  ?  "  Let  it  be,  my  hearers,  not 
a  day  longer,  lest  it  be  forever  ! 

For  you,  professing  Christians,  this  question  has  its  deep 
interest.  You  name  the  Name  of  Christ.  You  call  your- 
selves His  disciples.  You  rejoice  in  the  riches  of  His 
grace.  You  partake  of  the  bounties  of  His  love.  What 
are  your  habitual  trains  of  thought  ?  What  classes  of 
ideas  lodge  within  you ;  and  what  classes  merely  come  and 
go  as  visitors  of  duty  or  necessity?  Is  the  tone  of  your 
mind  spiritual  ?  Are  your  most  usual  trains  of  thought  of 
God,  your  soul,  and  eternity?  or  have  you  permitted  vain 
thoughts  to  take  possession  of  the  heart  which  belongs  to 
Christ,  and  to  drive  Him  out?  Are  you  mingling  in  such 
scenes  as  foster  vain  thoughts  ?  Here  lies  the  whole  phi- 
losophy upon  which  turn  the  objections  of  the  Ministers  of 
God  to  the  indulgence  of  His  people  in  the  pursuits  and 
amusements  of  the  world.  Too  much  absorption  in  any 
thing  not  spiritual,  creates  and  cherishes  the  trains  of 
thought  which  interrupt  meditation,  and  prayer,  and  com- 
munion with  God.  The  Christian  man  who  hurries  ar- 
dently into  politics  or  literature  or  business,  the  Christian 
woman  who  spends  her  nights  in  pleasure  and  her  days  in 
the  routine  of  the  world,  will  find  alike  that  vain  thoughts 
are  rapidly  lodging  within  them,  to  the  obscuring  of 


The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts,  151 

Christ's  image,  and  the  destruction  of  their  own  spirit- 
uality. We  cannot  be  too  watchful  over  ourselves.  Even 
the  most  legitimate  pursuits  may  be  turned  into  thoughts 
that  shall  deface  our  spiritual  character.  Hence  the  con- 
tinual warnings  of  the  Bible  against  lip-service,  against  the 
chambers  of  imagery,  against  the  idolatry  of  the  heart. 
My  beloved  hearers  if  any  of  you  feel  convicted  of  these 
vain  thoughts,  let  the  question  of  the  prophet,  "  How  long  ?  " 
be  answered,  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist :  "  Search  me,  0 
God,  and  know  my  heart :  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts  : 
and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me."  1 

Herein,  likewise,  lies  the  philosophy  of  Christian  educa- 
tion. While  these  habits  of  thought  are  forming,  while 
the  uncorrupted  heart  and  the  unoccupied  mind  are  weav- 
ing their  associations,  how  essential  that  moral  and  relig- 
ious ideas  should  form  the  materials  of  those  associations  ! 
How  ennobling  to  accustom  the  expanding  thought  to  look 
upon  Nature  as  one  vast  Temple,  in  which  are  seen  every- 
where the  footprints  of  the  Creator,  in  which  are  felt  every- 
where the  breathings  of  His  Holy  presence !  How  purify- 
ing to  impress  upon  the  fallen  nature,  ere  yet  its  germs  of 
evil  have  sprung  into  life  and  gained  dominion  over  the 
soul,  that  the  eye  of  God  is  ever  upon  His  creatures,  seeing 
in  the  depths  and  in  the  darkness  even  as  in  the  light  of 
day  !  How  consoling  to  be  taught,  in  the  very  earliest 
struggles  with  sin,  that  a  Saviour  has  died  to  give  us  the 
final  victory;  to  be  early  strung  with  the  hope  that  we  shall 
one  day  be  "  conquerors  and  more  than  conquerors  through 
Him  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us."  How  elevat- 
ing to  keep  ever  before  the  mind,  while  the  character  is 
forming,  a  perfect  model  such  as  Christianity  has  offered  in 
our  Saviour.  If  such  thoughts  can  only  be  made  to  lodge 
within  us  in  our  early  days,  they  will  go  far  to  prevent 

1  Psalm  cxxxix.  23,  24. 


152  The  Lodging  of  Vain  Thoughts. 

the  domination  of  those  vain  thoughts  against  which  the 
prophet  warns  us.  They  will  introduce  into  the  mind  the 
due  subordination  of  thoughts  of  business  or  interest  or 
pleasure,  to  the  more  solemn  thoughts  of  the  soul  and  of 
Eternity.  They  will  become  the  basis  of  the  character,  the 
lodgers  within  the  man :  while  all  else  will  be  entertained 
only  as  it  may  be  necessary,  or  useful,  or  obligatory.  And 
when  the  time  of  struggle  comes  —  the  time  that  is  to  test 
us  all  —  of  temptation,  of  trial,  of  adversity,  of  Death :  these 
holy  trains  of  feeling  will  rise  up  from  the  depths  where 
they  may  have  been  overlaid,  and  assert  their  supremacy ! 
"  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is 
old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  Give  him  moral,  pure, 
noble,  spiritual  trains  of  thought  when  the  mind  is  budding 
and  the  character  moulding ;  and  although  vain  thoughts 
may  seem,  for  a  time,  to  lodge  within  him,  they  will  be 
found  to  have  no  dominion ;  they  will  be  able  to  exert  no 
permanent  supremacy.  Neglect  not,  I  beseech  you,  Chris- 
tian parents,  the  power  God  has  placed  in  your  hands  for 
the  ennobling  of  your  children,  lest  you  be  called  to  mourn, 
in  bitterness  of  spirit,  over  vain  thoughts  which  you  can- 
not dislodge.  Weeds  will  grow  in  the  soil  of  human  na- 
ture without  any  planting,  without  any  culture.  Vain 
thoughts  will  spring  there  fast  enough,  without  your  foster- 
ing hands.  Let  your  effort  be  to  root  out  these  with  an 
unsparing  power;  to  plant  in  those  thoughts  which  shall 
connect  your  offspring  with  God  and  with  Eternity. 


fitttmtl)  Sermon. 


And  God  requireth  that  which  is  past.  —  Ecclesiastes  iii.  15. 

TT  requires  a  firm  heart  and  an  awakened  conscience  to 
enable  us  faithfully  to  weigh  our  relations  to  God.  For 
it  is  not  oniy  in  the  present  that  we  are  concerned  with 
Him,  nor  yet  only  in  the  future  ;  but  our  text  tells  us  that 
"  God  requireth  that  which  is  past : "  so  that,  while  strug- 
gling against  the  assaults  of  daily  temptation,  and  while 
casting  into  the  future  the  glances  of  an  anxious  and  trou- 
bled soul,  we  have  likewise  to  be  trembling  for  all  that 
is  past,  knowing  that  for  every  work,  and  word,  and  even 
thought,  we  shall  be  finally  called  into  judgment.  And 
this  accumulation  of  grave  responsibilities  too  often  drives 
the  disturbed  spirit  away  from  their  steady  contemplation ; 
and,  instead  of  meeting  them  face  to  face  at  once,  and  find- 
ing a  remedy  for  all  their  terrors  in  the  love  and  mercy  of 
a  reconciled  Father,  the  trembling  soul  buries  its  painful 
thoughts  in  the  excitements  of  life,  attempting  to  quiet 
itself  with  the  siren  song  of  a  future  repentance,  and  a 
future  amendment !  It  forgets,  alas,  that,  in  this  very  act, 
it  is  adding  one  more  to  the  already  accumulated  require- 
ments of  the  past,  and  is  every  day  making  more  difficult 
that  which  must  be  atoned  for  through  the  blood  of  a  cru- 
cified Saviour,  or  else  met,  in  irremediable  sternness,  at  the 
bar  of  an  offended  and  holy  God.  The  present,  my  beloved 
hearers,  is  all  that  can  retrieve  the  past  and  brighten  the 
future  ;  and  unless  you  can  muster  resolution  to  act  upon 
the  Apostolic  warning,  "  Now  is  the  accepted  time  ;  behold, 


154  God  requireth  the  Past. 

now  is  the  day  of  salvation/'1  the  present  will  be  ever 
swelling, — the  pursuing  past  will  be  ever  darkening  the 
impending  future. 

But  many  do  not  advance  even  to  this  point  of  consider- 
ation, but  press  on  from  day  to  day  amid  the  busy  cares  of 
life,  without  at  all  thinking  of  the  past.  In  their  estima- 
tion it  is  gone,  forever  gone ;  —  sunk  into  the  abyss  of 
time,  never  more  to  be  called  up  for  use  or  for  account.  It 
has  been  lived ;  has  had  its  pleasures,  its  sorrows,  its  plans, 
its  purposes ;  and,  having  been  lived,  has  no  further  end, 
save  as  its  consequences  give  shape  and  complexion  to  the 
present.  Living  only  for  time  and  for  the  existing  world, 
the  past  is  made  to  have  reference  only  to  the  onward 
course  of  things,  and  is  merged,  in  the  thoughts  of  such 
men,  in  the  circumstances  or  conditions  which  have  grown 
out  of  it.  It  is,  in  their  view,  like  one  of  the  ever  chang- 
ing scenes  of  Nature,  in  which  the  fantastic  shapes  of  the 
present  moment  are  but  the  fragments  of  the  images  which 
just  now  rivetted  our  gaze.  What  delighted  us  or  terri- 
fied us  under  the  aspect  of  the  sunshine  and  the  storm,  of 
the  light  and  the  shadow,  has  passed  away ;  and  we  forget 
it  in  the  emotions  of  the  present,  and  in  the  anticipations 
of  the  future.  We  never  dream  that  those  images  can  be 
recalled,  that  out  of  the  chaos  of  those  conflicting  elements 
the  past  can  ever  return  with  its  impressions  of  terror  or 
delight.  Vain  man  !  your  reliance  has  no  more  foundation 
than  the  baseless  fabric  from  which  you  have  woven  your 
imagery.  And  you  will  find,  when  too  late,  that  every 
passing  scene  of  life,  —  nay,  every  detail  of  that  scene,  — 
has  been  caught,  as  it  passed,  with  the  exactness  of  a  stern 
reality,  and  will  be  made  to  repass  before  your  conscience, 
with  a  distinctness  of  outline  and  an  accuracy  of  partic- 
ulars surpassing  any  power  of  nature,  or  any  work  of  art. 

i  2  Cor.  vi.  2. 


God  requireth  the  Past. 


155 


"  For  God  requireth  that  which  is  past :  "  and,  when  He 
requires  it,  who  can  doubt  His  ability  to  summon  up  from 
the  depths  of  by-gone  ages  their  whole  story  of  sin  and  of 
shame  ?  If  He  can  impart  to  you,  one  of  the  weakest  and 
feeblest  of  His  creatures,  the  wonderful  power  of  memory 
by  which  you  can  evoke,  from  the  years  that  are  gone,  such 
scenes  and  words  and  acts  and  thoughts  as  you  have  treas- 
ured there ;  nay  more,  if  He  can  make  the  Sun,  one  of  His 
inanimate  creatures,  to  stamp  upon  material  combinations 
the  images  that  are  subjected  to  its  power :  think  you 
that  He  has  not  agencies  at  work  that  can  bring  back, 
for  His  purpose  and  your  account,  every  act,  every  word, 
every  thought,  every  imagination,  every  desire  ?  Surely 
the  powers  that  are  in  yourselves,  vain  mortals,  —  the  agen- 
cies that  are  all  around  you  in  Nature,  —  should  teach  you 
that  the  God  of  man  and  of  Nature  has  an  infinite  control 
over  the  past,  as  well  as  over  the  future. 

But  let  us  reason  this  matter  by  easy  gradations  up  to 
the  height  upon  which  I  desire  to  place  you.  In  your  own 
experience  of  life,  is  not  God  constantly  requiring  that 
which  is  past  P  I  would  remove  you,  for  a  moment,  alto- 
gether from  religious  grounds,  and  place  you  where  there 
is  no  demand  for  faith,  save  the  belief  of  your  own  senses 
and  your  own  consciousness.  And  I  would  ask  you,  Can 
you  separate  the  present  from  the  past  ?  Are  not  all  the 
circumstances,  the  events,  nay  the  feelings  of  the  present, 
the  offspring  of  the  past,  having  the  features,  the  impres- 
sions, the  very  mould  of  their  parent  ?  Is  not  your  present 
position  in  life  the  result  of  circumstances  that  are  past  ? 
and  if  that  position  be  infelicitous,  is  not  God  requiring  of 
you,  in  that  position,  the  natural  consequences  of  some- 
thing which  was  deemed  long  buried  among  the  years  that 
are  gone  ?  We  cannot  walk  through  the  circles  of  social 
life  without  seeing  this  law  of  past  requirement  in  almost 


156  God  requireth  the  Past 

every  family.  Here,  past  extravagance  is  required  of  its 
victims,  in  irksome  toil  and  struggling  penury :  there, 
youthful  sensuality  is  working  itself  out  in  flame  through 
flesh,  and  nerve,  and  muscle,  and  bone.  Here,  improvidence 
demands  its  pay  in  anxious  brow  and  whitening  hair ;  and 
there,  society  is  calling  for  the  past  of  the  criminal 
through  its  jails,  its  fetters,  and  its  gallows.  No  man  is 
rid  of  the  past !  It  pursues  him  from  generations  that  are 
gone ;  and  when  those  who  gave  us  birth  are  buried  in 
their  graves,  it  rises  out  of  them  and  demands,  in  a  natu- 
ral way,  its  inevitable  consequences.  Independent  of  the 
threat  of  God  that  He  will  "  visit  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of 
them  that  hate  Him,"  He  has  stamped  the  same  unchang- 
ing decree  upon  natural  society ;  and  were  there  no  God 
to  execute  this  threat,  the  constitution  of  things  is  such 
that  it  would  execute  itself,  and  write  its  judgment  upon 
the  history  of  individuals  and  of  society.  However  man 
and  society  may  have  been  called  into  existence,  —  what- 
ever his  end  and  whatever  his  future, — this  law  of  past 
requirement  needs  no  omnipotent  arm  to  bare  itself  for 
its  enforcement.  Man  himself  executes  it  upon  himself 
and  upon  his  fellow-men,  and  society  executes  it  upon  the 
masses  which  make  up  her  aggregate  existence. 

Advancing  from  this  position,  the  truth  of  which  you 
cannot  deny,  the  next  step  brings  us  to  all  those  evils  and 
miseries  which  life  is  heir  to,  and  unto  which  man  seems 
as  certainly  born  as  the  sparks  fly  upward.  Many  of  the 
conditions  of  human  life  may  be  traced,  as  we  said  just 
now,  to  the  operation  of  natural  law,  and  the  established 
sequence  of  things;  but  there  are  others  for  which  we 
must  seek  a  different  solution.  When  we  perceive  the 
family  of  a  villain  writhing  under  the  consequences  of  his 
criminality,  we  need  no  further  investigation  to  enable  us 


God  requireth  the  Past. 


157 


to  connect  the  effect  with  the  cause ;  but  not  so  when  we 
see  the  innocent  die,  and  the  good  suffer,  and  the  noble  ca- 
lumniated, and  a  world  rich  in  all  the  beauties  of  Nature  and 
the  blessings  of  Providence  covered  with  disease,  and  pain, 
and  suffering,  and  death.  For  these  results  we  are  obliged 
to  seek  some  other  solution ;  and  we  find  it  in  the  same 
general  law,  but  under  a  higher  and  more  direct  develop- 
ment. In  all  this  evil  and  in  all  this  sorrow  we  see  God  re- 
quiring that  which  is  past ;  but  we  know  what  that  past  is, 
only  by  Revelation.  We  briug  you,  therefore,  to  Revelation, 
and  we  show  you,  from  the  operation  of  the  same  natural 
law,  a  sameness  in  the  God  of  revelation  and  in  Him  who 
has  stamped  the  law  of  past  requirement  upon  the  constitu- 
tion and  course  of  Nature.  The  Bible  tells  us  that  in  all 
this  misery  God  is  requiring  the  sin  that  is  past :  and  the 
very  analogy  of  the  operation  should  make  it  more  easy  for 
your  credence.  If  you  perceive  God  requiring,  in  a  natural 
way,  the  sins  of  the  fathers  from  the  children,  to  the  third 
and  fourth  generation,  as  far  as  your  perception  and  knowl- 
edge can  trace  the  connection :  why  should  you  deem  it 
improbable  that  the  same  law  should  be  extended  backward 
and  backward  in  the  past,  till  it  reaches  up  to  that  fountain 
of  sin  which  has  come  into  the  world  through  our  first 
parents,  and  brought  with  it  all  its  crime  and  woe  ?  And 
how  terrible  a  view  it  gives  us  of  sin  in  its  polluting  and 
destructive  character,  when  we  perceive  that  one  fatal  act 
still  pursuing  a  whole  race  from  generation  to  generation  ; 
and  what  an  awful  aspect  it  gives  to  the  character  of  God, 
that  He  is  still  requiring  that  sin  at  the  hands  of  man, 
even  while  He  has  given  His  only  beloved  Son  to  die  for 
the  destruction  of  sin,  and  to  rise  again  for  the  justification 
of  the  past !  And  can  you  doubt  what  is  before  you  in  the 
future,  when  you  look  at  this  development?  What  must 
be  the  wrath  of  God,  and  what  His  vengeance  against  a 


158  God  requireth  the  Past, 

lifetime  of  sin,  aggravated  too  by  its  commission  in  the 
face  of  knowledge,  of  light,  of  mercy  and  of  love  ?  If  one 
sin  thus  haunts  the  world,  making  it  wretched,  —  a  very 
vale  of  tears :  what  must  be  the  effect  —  upon  character, 
upon  feeling,  upon  happiness,  upon  the  future  —  of  a  life 
of  sin?  Surely,  when  God  comes  to  require  the  past  of 
such  a  life,  it  will  be,  it  must  be,  a  fearful  reckoning. 

Let  us  now  take  another  view  of  this  same  subject,  and 
look  upon  it  in  the  light  reflected  from  the  Cross  of  our 
Redeemer.  The  saddest  story  in  the  whole  history  of  life 
is  that  which  details  the  requirement  by  God  of  the  past  in 
the  Person  of  His  Son,  —  His  only-begotten  and  well-be- 
loved Son.  All  other  stories  of  suffering  are  qualified  by 
the  feeling  of  error,  or  imprudence,  or  crime,  on  the  part  of 
the  victims ;  but  in  Him  there  was  no  sin.  Spotless  inno- 
cence was  combined  with  meekness,  with  gentleness,  with 
submission,  —  all  the  qualities  which  excite  pity  and  move 
compassion.  Nor  was  it  the  suffering  of  necessity,  save  as 
that  necessity  had  been  laid  upon  Himself  by  Himself,  out 
of  love  for  a  sinful  race.  His  was  not  the  resignation  of 
one  who  could  not  help  himself :  it  was  the  firm  endurance 
of  unutterable  woe  by  One  who  could  have  delivered  Him- 
self in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  had  He  been  willing  to 
consign  His  brethren  to  hopeless  destruction.  His  sub- 
mission was  not  the  submission  of  one  whom  fetters  and  a 
prison  and  an  armed  soldiery  could  coerce :  for  He  might  at 
any  moment  have  called  from  Heaven  whole  armies  of 
angelic  spirits,  that  could  have  burst  all  bars  of  man  or 
Nature  for  His  deliverance.  No  !  It  was  the  holy  resolution 
of  Redemption  !  it  was  the  setting  His  face  unmoved  toward 
the  Cross,  and  enduring,  in  that  progress,  humiliation, 
shame,  ignominy,  contempt,  the  desertion  of  friends,  but 
above  all  the  desertion  of  His  Father,  while  He  was  bear- 
ing upon  Himself  the  sins  of  a  whole  world  !    And  for 


God  requireth  the  Past. 


159 


what  ?  For  that  same  past  for  which  humanity  has  been 
groaning*  since  the  Fall ;  for  that  terrible  past,  which  God 
was  requiring,  and  which  could  not  be  expiated  save  by  the 
sufferings  and  blood  of  the  covenanted  Victim.  And  this, 
my  hearers,  is  a  more  fearful  illustration  of  that  inexorable 
law  of  which  we  have  been  treating  this  morning,  —  of 
that  stern,  unyielding  law  of  requirement  by  God  which 
forms  the  topic  of  our  discourse,  —  than  any  which  has 
yet  been  offered,  whether  drawn  from  the  course  of  Nature 
or  from  the  direct  effects  of  it  through  the  intervention  of 
God.  In  all  other  cases  we  see  an  indignant  Deity  requir- 
ing the  past  from  those  who  created  that  past,  or  who 
derived  their  polluted  descent  from  its  creators:  in  this, 
we  see  Him  requiring  it  from  one  innocent  Being,  whose 
past  was  sinless  as  His  own;  and  that  One  His  own 
beloved  Son,  the  delight  of  His  Being  from  eternity !  Ah, 
my  hearers,  as  you  gaze  upon  that  Victim,  —  as  you  see 
Him  faint,  haggard,  bleeding,  dying,  with  no  eye  to  pity 
and  no  arm  to  save,  and  in  that  agony  contending  with  the 
Devil  for  the  souls  of  men,  —  can  you  hope  to  escape  this 
inevitable  law?  Can  you  dare  to  persuade  yourself  that 
your  past  will  be  forgotten  ?  He  placed  Himself  in  the 
room  of  sinful  man,  took  upon  Him  the  past  of  the  race, 
and  bound  Himself  in  covenant  to  bear  all  that  the  past 
demanded :  and  yet,  even  He,  God-Man,  was  for  a  moment 
staggered  at  the  terribleness  of  His  undertaking,  —  that 
moment  when  He  said :  "  0  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me.  " 1  How  awful  must  be  the  bur- 
den of  the  past,  when  such  a  sin-offering  as  our  Redeemer 
faltered  on  approaching  His  Father's  stern  requirement  of 
it !  Well  may  weak,  erring,  sinful  creatures,  such  as  we 
are,  tremble  as  we  approach  it ! 

And  now,  my  hearers,  that  I  have  illustrated  my  text  for 
1  S.  Matt,  xx vi.  39. 


160  God  requireth  the  Past, 

you,  —  that  I  have  shown  from  your  own  experience,  and 
from  the  analogy  of  things,  and  from  the  miseries  of  the 
world  as  it  lies  under  the  curse  of  sin,  and  from  the  Cross 
of  our  Saviour,  that  God  does  indeed  sternly  require  the 
past,  let  me  ask  you,  in  all  earnestness,  what  has  been  your 
past  ?  You  are  aware  that  you  form  a  link  in  that  chain 
which  connects  sin  with  the  anger  of  God ;  —  that  you  are 
an  inheritor  of  that  corruption  which,  commencing  in 
Adam,  has  been  accumulating  all  through  the  past,  taxing 
to  the  uttermost  the  forbearance  and  long-suffering  of  God. 
But  it  is  not  of  that  general  corruption  I  now  ask  you  ;  it 
is  of  your  own  peculiar  past  that  I  make  my  inquiry. 
What  has  been  —  I  ask  it  of  every  one  here  present  —  your 
past  ?  If  it  were  required  of  you  now,  this  instant,  what 
should  that  past  of  yours  offer  to  stay  the  indignation  of 
God,  or  to  disarm  His  vengeance  ?  Putting  it  at  the  very 
best,  would  even  you  dare  to  say  that  it  was  harmless? 
But  your  partial  judgment  is  not  that  which  is  to  pass  upon 
it.  It  is  God  that  requireth  the  past ! — God,  such  as  He 
is  portrayed  in  the  Scriptures ;  God  the  Holy,  in  whose 
sight  the  heavens  are  not  clean,  who  chargeth  His  angels 
with  folly ;  God  the  Just,  who  layeth  judgment  to  the  line 
and  righteousness  to  the  plummet !  Nor  is  your  fallible 
and  partial  memory  to  call  up  that  past.  It  is  to  be 
dragged  to  light  and  burned  in  upon  your  consciousness  by 
a  God  who  is  omniscient,  who  searcheth  the  hearts  and 
trieth  the  reins  of  the  children  of  men ;  who  has  noted  not 
only  your  deeds,  not  only  your  words,  not  only  your 
thoughts,  but  every  gleam  of  desire,  every  vain  imagination, 
every  nascent  motive ;  who  has  recorded  not  only  what  you 
have  committed  in  the  course  of  an  active  and  busy  life, 
but  what  that  very  activity  and  business  have  caused  you  to 
leave  undone !  Oh !  how  it  will  cumulate  and  accumulate 
upon  you,  as  it  rises  up  from  the  abyss  of  the  forgotten, 


God  requireth  the  Past.  1 6 1 

until  you  will  stare  in  horror  at  the  heap  of  transgressions, 
and  sink  overwhelmed  with  the  idea  of  meeting  them  face 
to  face  !  Ah  !  rny  hearers,  your  actual  deeds  will  form  but 
a  small  portion  of  your  past.  It  is  thought,  feeling,  desire, 
motive,  that  will  make  up  the  hideous  mass.  You  will  never 
realize  until  that  moment  comes  what  an  active,  busy,  rest- 
less, burning  element  of  being  was  your  heart !  how  out 
of  it  were  the  issues  of  life,  while  you  were  measuring  only 
acts ;  how  it  was  sinning  against  God  in  its  own  deep  and 
unfathomable  recesses,  while  not  a  word  was  uttered,  not  a 
work  performed !  how  it  raged,  like  a  concealed  volcano, 
bubbling  and  boiling  within  its  own  bosom,  while,  without, 
it  was  covered  with  calmness  and  with  beauty.  When  all 
this  shall  be  unveiled,  —  when  that  chamber  of  imagery 
shall  be  turned  inside  out  and  all  its  linings  displayed  as 
yours,  —  how  unlike  shall  it  be  to  the  self-complacent  pic- 
ture of  the  past  which  you  now  conjure  up ;  as  unlike  as 
the  faint  outline  of  scenes  and  circumstances  which  we  can 
recall  in  our  conception,  when  compared  with  those  scenes 
and  circumstances  themselves  as  they  occurred  with  all 
their  detail  and  ail  their  distinct  coloring ! 

Are  you  prepared,  my  hearers,  to  meet  that  past  ?  You 
see  how  terrible  it  is  like  to  be,  how  dissimilar  from  that 
with  which  you  satisfy  yourselves  :  have  you  taken  the  very 
first  step  towards  meeting  it  ?  Nay,  have  you  ever  even 
considered  that  you  will  have  to  meet  it  ?  I  fear  me  that 
every  thing  connected  with  your  past  has  yet  to  be  con- 
sidered :  that  if  you  have  been  able  at  all  to  separate  your 
thoughts  and  affections  from  the  present,  they  have  only 
turned  from  its  cares  and  its  enjoyments  to  revel  in  the 
hopes  of  the  future.  I  fear  me  that  you  have  yet  to  be 
convinced  that  the  past  is  upon  your  track,  that  it  is  hunt- 
ing you  with  slow  unfaltering  pace  to  the  judgment-seat 
of  Christ.  And  if  my  fears  be  true,  what  a  condition  is 
11 


l62 


God  requireth  the  Past. 


yours !  Your  boat  is  gliding  swiftly  down  the  current  that 
is  hurrying  you  onward  to  the  abyss.  The  deep,  hoarse 
murmur  of  the  eternal  cataract  is  sounding  louder  and 
louder  as  you  approach  its  awful  brink.  If  once  you  are 
swept  into  the  rapids,  nothing  can  save  you  from  inevitable 
destruction.  The  swift  waters  that  are  hurrying  madly  be- 
hind you  will  go  over  your  soul,  —  will  press  and  break  you 
down  under  their  overwhelming  weight !  Your  only  hope 
is,  at  once  to  be  aroused  to  your  true  position ;  —  at  once 
to  face  that  smoothly  gliding  current,  and,  ere  it  is  too  late, 
to  escape  from  its  treachery  and  its  doom!  Let  not  the 
calm  present  deceive  you.  Let  not  the  gentle  current  of 
life  sweep  you  along,  forgetful  of  what  is  behind  you,  forget- 
ful of  what  is  before  you.  Pause,  I  pray  you,  and  seek  some 
haven  of  rest  for  your  struggling,  panting  soul ! 

But  you  may  say,  "  God  requireth  the  past,"  and  how 
can  I  meet  it  in  the  stern  severity  of  which  you  have  been 
speaking?  How  can  I  meet  so  holy,  so  just,  so  omni- 
scient a  God,  when  He  comes  to  weigh  all  my  past  in  the 
scales  of  His  even-handed  justice?  Well  may  you  ask, 
"How?  "  Would  to  God  that  I  could  bring  you  to  ask  Him 
in  earnest,  and  with  trembling ;  that  I  could  make  you  ac- 
knowledge with  Job,  "  I  know  it  is  so  of  a  truth  :  but  how 
should  man  be  just  with  God?  If  he  will  contend  with 
him,  he  cannot  answer  him  one  of  a  thousand."  1  "  The 
first  step  in  the  ascent  to  heaven,"  said  the  ancient  in- 
scription upon  the  Temple  of  Isis,  "  is  downward  to  the 
hell  of  self-knowledge."  Could  you  only  take  that  first 
step,  —  could  you  be  made  to  see  yourself  as  God  sees  you ; 
to  feel  that  "if  you  wash  yourself  with  snow-water,  and 
make  your  hands  never  so  clean  ;  yet  God  shall  plunge  you 
in  the  ditch,  and  your  own  clothes  shall  abhor  you,"2  ah  ! 
then  should  I  have  hope !  Then  might  I  point  you  to  a 
i  Jobix.  2,  3.  2  Ibid.  30,  31. 


God  requireth  the  Past  163 

Saviour,  who  has  atoned  for  the  past,  who  has  taken  it  all 
upon  Himself,  and  borne  it  already  for  you,  in  the  mysteri- 
ous purposes  of  the  Godhead.  But  I  dare  not  do  it  while 
you  are  unconcerned  about  that  past ;  for  I  should  per- 
chance be  adding  to  your  terrible  past  this  further  sin  of 
crucifying  afresh  the  Son  of  God.  TVTiat  a  terrible  strait 
is  this  !  I  know  that  there  is  none  other  Name  under 
Heaven  given  unto  man  whereby  he  may  be  saved  but  only 
the  Xame  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth :  and  yet,  to  fear 
that  the  preaching  of  that  precious  Xanie  may  only  aggra- 
vate the  past !  May  God  of  His  infinite  mercy  arouse  you 
to  a  true  sense  of  your  condition,  so  that  you  may  indeed 
ask  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? " 1  and  receive  with 
obedient  hearts  the  joyful  response  :  "  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  2 

And  to  you  who  profess  the  Naine  which  is  above  every 
name,  let  me  say  a  few  words  of  advice  and  of  love.  "  The 
heart/'  fellow-Christians,  "  is  deceitful  above  all  things, 
and  desperately  wicked."  3  What  a  description  !  Beware 
of  that  heart !  It  may  deceive  you  as  to  your  present  con- 
dition !  It  may  lead  you  to  believe  that  your  past  has  been 
blotted  out,  while  yet  it  may  be  pursuing  you  with  all  its 
bitterness  and  malignity  :  or  it  may  beguile  you  to  say, 
with  the  Antinomian,  Let  us  "  continue  in  sin,  that  grace 
may  abound."  4  Either  of  these  would  be  destruction  to 
you  !  For  while  it  is  true  that  there  is  a  "  fountain  opened 
to  the  house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
for  sin  and  for  uncleanness, "  5  it  is  of  no  efficacy  for  those 
who  continue  in  sin  —  willful  sin.  Examine,  therefore, 
yourselves,j>efore  the  approaching  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.]  See  that  your  hearts  are  right  with  God  ;  and 
"  so  search  your  own  consciences  (and  that  not  lightly,  and 


1  Acts  xvi.  30. 
4  Rom.  vi.  1. 


2  Ibid.  31. 

5  Zech.  xiii.  1. 


3  Jer.  xvii.  9. 


164  God  requireth  the  Past. 

after  the  manner  of  dissemblers  with  Godj  hut  so)  that  ye 
may  come  holy  and  clean  to  snch  a  heavenly  Feast,  in  the 
marriage-garment  required  by  God  in  Holy  Scripture."  J 
Upon  your  sincerity  and  earnestness  will  depend  God's  deal- 
ings with  you.  He  will  require  the  past  of  every  sinner ; 
but  for  those  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity 
and  truth,  there  shall  be  no  past  at  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ.  His  past  shall  become  their  past :  and  their  sanc- 
tified spirits  will  not  be  required  to  tremble  for  that  which 
is  behind ;  but  will  be  filled  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory  for  that  which  fills  up  all  the  future,  —  the  love  of 
God  in  Christ,  —  in  the  blessed  land  where  there  shall  be 
no  more  curse. 

1866. 


^tjteent^  Sermon. 


Because  Ephraim  hath  made  many  altars  to  sin,  altars  shall  be 
unto  him  to  sin.  —  Hosea  viii.  11. 

TTNBELIEF,  while  always  the  same  in  essence,  assumes 


^  a  thousand  shapes  to  suit  the  times  in  which  it  may 
be  circulating.  A  form  of  infidelity,  gross  and  sensual  as 
that  which  disgraced  the  court  of  the  second  Charles,  could 
have  no  currency  in  an  age  like  this,  when  at  least  a  show 
of  decency  is  necessary  to  give  power  to  any  thing  which 
calls  itself  Truth.  Nor  would  the  ignorance  and  flippancy 
of  the  French  infidelity  find  any  more  countenance  among 
us ;  because  the  Scriptures,  universally  diffused  and  known 
as  they  are,  could  no  longer  suffer  from  the  garbling  and 
misinterpretation  of  shallow  profanity.  But  while  this  is 
true,  unbelief  may  be  none  the  less  rife,  and  may  be  all  the 
more  dangerous,  because  it  assumes  the  cast  of  thought 
which  is  prevalent  among  educated  men.  The  serpent 
which  can  put  on  the  hue  of  the  forest  through  which  it  is 
gliding,  steals  the  more  surely  and  inevitably  upon  the 
unwary  traveller.  While  he  sees  only  what  appears  to  him 
to  be  the  natural  motion  of  the  leaves  and  the  twigs,  his 
enemy  is  close  upon  him,  and  is  already  filling  the  atmos- 
phere with  the  poison  which  is  to  fascinate  and  then  de- 
stroy him.  And  in  like  manner  that  form  of  irreligion 
which  assimilates  itself  most  closely  to  the  spirit  of  the 
times,  is  the  most  perilous,  because  the  most  natural  and 
unsuspected.    It  approaches  us  in  such  accustomed  lan- 


1 66  Ephraims  many  Altars  to  Sin. 

guage,  and  at  such  happy  moments ;  it  whispers  in  our 
ears  in  such  a  familiar  tone,  and  its  whisperings  are  so 
like  the  voices  which  we  daily  hear ;  it  involves  us,  hefore 
we  are  startled  at  our  danger,  with  such  an  enervating 
atmosphere  of  corrupt  and  poisonous  sentiment :  that  we 
are  in  the  coils  of  the  old  Serpent,  that  subtle  Destroyer, 
before  we  even  conceive  that  peril  is  nigh  us.  And  even 
when  we  have  been  warned,  —  when  the  finger  of  experi- 
ence and  of  love  has  pointed  out  to  us  the  baleful  eyes  and 
beauteous  skin  of  the  approaching  enemy,  —  those  eyes  are 
so  like  the  glittering  dew-drops,  and  that  skin  so  like  the 
colorings  of  Nature,  that  we  perish  gazing  upon  the  insid- 
ious foe.  Alas  for  man !  — that  he  cannot  learn  that  the 
natural  stands  forever  linked,  in  this  world,  because  of  sin, 
with  that  which  is  sensual  and  corrupt. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  form  of  ungodliness  more  rife  or 
more  dangerous  at  this  present  day  than  that  which  tempts 
us  to  believe  that  every  kind  of  worship,  if  it  be  only  sin- 
cere, is  acceptable  with  God.  The  tendency  of  the  times  is 
to  strike  at  every  thing  positive  and  distinctive ;  —  to  put 
all  systems,  all  institutions,  —  nay,  all  men  —  upon  an  ig- 
noble level.  Every  thing  that  was  considered  undoubted 
and  established,  is  to  be  once  again  placed  in  the  scales  of 
judgment,  and  weighed  anew  by  the  present  generation  ; 
and  nothing  is  to  be  considered  wisdom  which  is  not  de- 
cided to  be  so  by  the  charlatans  of  the  current  time.  If 
this  spirit  were  confined  to  science  and  literature,  or  even  to 
politics  and  government,  however  we  might  deprecate  it 
even  in  these,  we  should  leave  it  to  taste,  and  experience, 
and  interest,  to  rectify  the  evil.  But  when  it  is  unsettling 
and  confounding  morals  and  religion,  when  it  is  encourag- 
ing men  to  make  experience  and  utility  the  basis  of  truth, 
it  is  time  for  the  wise  to  look  about  them,  and  for  the 
guardians  of  Revelation  to  strike  for  their  Altai's  and  their 


Ephraims  many  Altars  to  Sin.  167 

God.  Woe  to  the  world,  when  men  learn,  —  and  learn  it 
too  from  what  are  called  "  the  churches  of  God,"  —  that 
right  and  wrong  are  not  to  be  settled  by  the  Bible ;  that 
there  is  nothing  positive  in  religion  ;  that  God  has  dictated 
no  form  of  belief  as  essentially  necessary  to  salvation  ;  that 
He  looks  with  no  more  favor  upon  one  worshipper  than 
another,  provided  each  is  equally  sincere  in  his  creed  and 
in  his  practice  !  Woe  to  that  same  world,  when  such  prin- 
ciples as  these  become  the  prevailing  sentiments  of  men  ; 
for  it  will  inevitably  be  hurried  back,  through  folly  and 
crime,  to  anarchy  and  barbarism  ! 

When  we  take  our  first  step  in  sin,  we  little  conceive 
where  that  false  movement  will  conduct  us.  It  is  only 
after  a  sad  experience  that  we  come  to  understand  the 
effects  which  sin  produces  upon  our  own  hearts,  and  appre- 
ciate the  difficulty  which  there  is  in  resisting  its  corrupting 
and  downward  tendencies.  We  imagine  that  the  whole 
mischief  of  a  sin  is  in  the  sin  itself ;  that  when  it  has  done 
its  evil,  of  whatever  kind,  upon  its  object,  its  bitterness  is 
over:  and  thus  it  happens  that  we  leave  out  of  view  the 
most  terrible  consequences  of  sin,  —  those  consequences 
which  this  text  indicates,  and  which  I  desire  to  bring  dis- 
tinctly to  your  notice.  The  progressive  powers  of  sin  are 
its  most  terrible  powers ;  and  when  the  restraining  influ- 
ence of  God's  hand  is  lifted  from  them,  and  they  are  per- 
mitted to  come  in  like  a  flood,  woe  to  that  people  or  that 
individual  upon  whom  they  exert  their  overwhelming  force  ! 
They  are  swept  on,  as  by  an  irresistible  fate,  to  utter  cor- 
ruption and  destruction.  And  it  is  only  necessary  for  God 
to  issue  the  decree  of  my  text,  "  Because  Ephraim  hath 
made  many  altars  to  sin,  altars  shall  be  unto  him  to  sin," 
and  the  work  is  fairly  begun.  There  is  nothing  thencefor- 
ward to  check  its  career,  either  in  the  nation  or  the  indi- 


1 68         Ephraim  s  many  Altars  to  Sin. 

vidual,  until  God's  punishment  be  exhausted,  and  the  en- 
tail be  cut  off  through  His  mercy  in  Christ  Jesus. 

When  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  raised  a  false  wor- 
ship in  Bethel,  and  the  children  of  Israel  consented  to  call 
upon  God  there,  instead  of  at  Jersusalem  Where*God  had 
appointed  that  they  should  worship  Him,  he  established  a 
precedent  which,  in  consistency,  he  could  never  oppose 
when  it  should  be  carried  to  an  extent  beyond  his  own  in- 
tention. It  was  not  the  purpose  of  Jeroboam  to  lead  the 
Israelites  away  from  Jehovah ;  he  only  desired  to  lead  them 
away  from  Jerusalem.  His  object  was,  not  to  declare  war 
against  the  Jewish  religion  ;  but  only  to  modify  i{,  so  far  as 
was  necessary  to  carry  out  the  separation  which  he  had 
made  of  the  Ten  Tribes  from  the  remaining  Two.  But  the 
moment  that  he  committed  himself  to  this  line  of  action, 
he  had  set  the  example  of  disobedience  to  God's  express 
command  that  His  Temple  and  Altar  and  Priesthood 
should  be  at  Jerusalem ;  and  had  infused  into  every  man's 
mind  the  principle  that  a  seeming  necessity  justified  the 
abandonment  of  God's  command,  and  the  substitution,  in 
its  place,  of  man's  will  and  interest.  And  when  this  pre- 
cedent was  followed  by  Ephraim,  so  that  many  altars  were 
reared  in  Israel,  these  altars  were  permitted  by  God  all  over 
the  land,  —  altars  upon  every  hill  and  mountain,  and  under 
every  green  tree,  until  idolatry  the  foullest  and  the  most 
degrading  usurped  the  place  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah. 
Altars  to  Baal  and  Ashtaroth,  to  Tammuz  and  Peor,  defiled 
the  land;  and  it  required  the  direct  interference  of  God, 
through  His  prophets,  to  bring  Ephraim  back  to  the  wor- 
ship from  which  he  had  thus  gradually  but  surely  wan- 
dered. 

And  we  can  easily  perceive,  when  the  thing  is  brought 
to  our  notice,  how  it  comes  to  pass  naturally  and  inevitably. 


Ephraims  many  Altars  to  Sin.  169 

The  very  principle  upon  which  it  proceeds,  is  that  by  which 
its  final  destruction  is  ensured.  Like  the  brood  of  Error 
in  Spenser's  allegory,  the  moment  it  is  born  it  begins  to 
feed  upon  its  own  mother.  The  principle  of  disobedience 
and  self-will  which  justified  the  first  deviation,  will  justify 
all  that  follow;  until  no  authority  is  left,  and  every  one 
judges  for  himself,  according  to  his  fancy,  or  his  interest, 
or  his  passion.  If  Jeroboam  might  modify  the  national 
worship,  so  might  Ahab,  and  Jezebel,  and  Joram,  and 
under  cloak  of  the  principle  introduce  the  worst  systems 
of  Idolatry.  The  progress  was  only  natural.  Change  is 
delightful  to  the  human  heart ;  especially  a  change  which 
enables  it  to  cast  off  established  authority,  and  substitute 
for  what  is  stern  and  self-denying  something  which  is  ex- 
citing and  pleasurable.  And,  growing  by  what  it  feeds 
upon,  the  appetite  craves  incessant  gratification,  and 
presses  on  from  one  degree  of  licentiousness  to  another, 
until  Truth  itself  is  abandoned,  and  every  thing  established 
by  God  is  swept  away  from  the  altars  of  men.  "  Because 
Ephraim  hath  made  many  altars  to  sin,  altars  shall  be  unto 
him  to  sin."  His  act  rebounds  upon  himself ;  and  he  is 
forced,  from  the  necessity  of  consistency,  not  only  to  justify, 
but  to  partake  of,  sins  far  more  gross  than  any  he  ever 
contemplated. 

And  are  we  not,  in  this  country,  passing  through  pre- 
cisely this  experience?  Is  not  our  religious  history  fast 
verging  upon  this  decree  uttered  by  the  prophet  ?  Are  we 
not  dividing  and  subdividing  into  innumerable  sects,  each 
one  setting  up  its  own  altar,  and  each  altar  further  and  still 
further  removed  from  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  Christ  ? 
Where  is  the  Unity  of  Christ  ?  Where  is  that  one  Faith, 
one  Lord,  one  Baptism,  of  which  we  read  in  the  Epistles  ? 
Has  not  the  progress  been  rapidly  downward,  striking  in 
turn  at  every  thing  distinctive  in  doctrine,  and  bringing  in 


170         Ephraims  many  Altars  to  Sin. 

arrangements  of  religious  worship  more  and  more  radical  ? 
Is  not  God  manifesting  the  law  of  His  government  by 
permitting  these  altars  to  multiply;  and,  as  they  multiply, 
to  be  more  and  more  irregular  and  profane  ?  Are  not 
"  churches  "  which  we  once  hoped  still  clung  to  the  truth 
of  doctrine,  abandoning  that  truth  article  by  article,  and 
adhering  only  to  what  suits  their  interest  or  their  passions  ? 
Are  not  denominations  of  Christians  which  once  com- 
manded respect  by  their  compactness  and  their  firmness, 
now  losing  even  that  by  their  innumerable  subdivisions  and 
the  reception  of  principles  which  must  lead  to  still  worse 
and  worse  ?  Look  at  the  rapid  deterioration  of  religion  in 
many  parts  of  the  United  States,  once  the  most  rigid  and 
devout !  Look  at  the  doctrines  which  are  now  publicly  pro- 
claimed throughout  the  land,  —  which  are  gathering  dis- 
ciples, —  which  are  forming  sects ;  —  doctrines  of  devils, 
fit  only  for  execration  and  condemnation.  See  the  indif- 
ference of  the  people  to  this  rapid  corruption  of  Truth,  to 
this  denial  of  our  Saviour,  to  this  blotting  out  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  to  this  contempt  for  doctrinal  truth,  to  this  irrever- 
ence for  the  word  of  God  and  for  every  thing  established  by 
it,  to  this  abrogation  of  heaven  and  of  hell !  Ephraim  is 
making  many  altars  to  sin,  crowding  them  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land  :  and,  true  to  the  principle  of  its 
action,  his  law  is  being  fast  made  the  banner  under  which 
idols  of  every  hue  and  shape,  —  idols  of  imagination,  of 
sentiment,  of  will,  of  pride,  of  lust,  —  are  to  take  the  place 
of  Christ  and  His  Church.  And  what  is  worse,  Christians 
themselves  seem  blinded  to  the  condition  of  things,  and  are 
comforting  themselves  with  the  idea  that  Religion  is  ad- 
vancing through  the  land,  when  it  is  really  fast  running 
into  the  foullest  corruption.  Could  the  mighty  Edwards 
rise  from  his  grave,  and  cast  his  eyes  over  his  own  once 
fruitful  field  of  labor,  where  should  he  find  the  doctrines 


Ephraims  many  Altars  to  Sin,  171 

which  he  preached,  the  discipline  which  he  reverenced? 
Could  the  eloquent  Mason  he  given  hack  again  to  earth, 
how  would  he  thunder  against  the  degeneracy  of  the  times, 
and  ask  in  vain  for  the  habits  of  devotion  and  the  morals 
of  life  which  he  adorned  and  illustrated  !  Could  Whitfield 
and  Wesley  survey  the  masses  which  have  congregated 
around  the  altars  they  erected,  how  would  they  shudder  at 
much  which  calls  itself  by  their  name,  and  mourn,  in  bitter- 
ness of  spirit,  that  they  ever  turned  aside  from  the  good 
old  paths  in  which  they  had  been  trained  !  And  the  worst 
is  not  yet.  It  is  only  beginning :  and  if  these  things  are 
done  in  the  green  tree,  what  shall  we  look  for  in  the  dry  ? 
Ah  !  my  hearers,  if  you  would  only  study  the  aspect  of  the 
times,  in  its  moral  and  religious  point  of  view,  you  would 
tremble  at  what  is  fast  coming  upon  you, — tremble  for 
your  Altars  and  your  firesides  !  But,  instead  of  that,  you 
are  carried  along  with  the  current ;  and  conceive  that  Eph- 
raim  has  full  right  to  create  as  many  altars  as  he  pleases ; 
and  to  rend  the  seamless  garment  of  Christ  into  shreds  and 
tatters ! 

But  it  is  not  only  by  a  natural  law  that  this  deterioration 
will  go  on.  After  Ephraim  shall  have  raised  many  altars 
to  sin,  God's  action  will  become  judicial,  and  Ephraim's  sin 
will  find  him  out  in  a  still  more  terrible  way.  Up  to  a  cer- 
tain point,  this  erection  of  altars  will  be  the  product  of 
his  own  will.  He  shall  be  sinning-  against  li^ht  and  con- 
science,  against  warning  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  when,  in 
defiance  of  these,  he  shall  have  made  many  altars  to  sin, 
"altars  shall  be  unto  him  to  sin."  His  appetite  shall  be 
glutted  to  its  fullest  extent.  Means  and  appliances  the 
most  ample  shall  be  furnished  him  for  idolatry.  Doctrines 
more  false  and  monstrous,  opinions  more  profane  and  li- 
centious, opinions  more  hideous  and  disgusting,  shall  meet 
his  eager  mind,  and  he  shall  rush  to  their  embrace  with  a 


172  Ephrainis  many  Altars  to  Sin. 

greediness  which  will  prove  that  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  left 
him,  and  that  he  is  bound  up  in  the  wings  of  the  wind ! 
Alas  for  us  !  We  are  nurturing  our  worst  enemy  within 
our  own  bowels ;  we  are  breeding  an  innumerable  spawn  of 
error  that  will  finally  consume  us.  God  is  our  only  refuge, 
and  His  Church  the  only  ark  of  safety  amid  these  agitated 
waves  of  self-will,  of  irreverence,  and  of  ungodliness.  Un- 
less we  turn  to  them,  the  sun  which  rose  upon  a  people 
who  loved  and  honored  the  Altars  of  the  living  God,  will  go 
down  in  blood  upon  altars  reeking  with  every  unclean  and 
unwholesome  sacrifice. 

But  this  text,  while  its  primary  reference  is  to  sins 
against  religious  worship,  has  also  its  stern  application  to 
individuals.  The  Church  of  the  Israelites  is  often  used  in 
Scripture  to  represent  the  pilgrimage  of  the  Christian, — 
to  furnish  instruction  and  reproof  to  the  individual  as  he 
fights  the  battle  of  his  soul.  Every  man  may  find  in  Eph- 
raim  a  warning,  —  the  dealings  which  God  will  exercise 
upon  himself,  if  he  turn  away  and  make  altars  to  sin.  The 
like  process  goes  on  with  the  individual,  as  with  the  peo- 
ple ;  with  the  single  Christian,  as  with  the  believing  nation. 
It  begins  in  what  we  consider  a  necessity  meeting  us  in 
our  path  of  life ;  and  ends  in  a  desertion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  most  hopeless  which  can  befall  a  human 
creature. 

It  is  an  exceedingly  dangerous  thing  for  a  Christian  to 
tamper  with  Truth,  —  to  make  it  at  all  subservient  to  any 
of  the  interests  or  passions  of  life.  Truth  is  one  and  fixed ; 
revealed  by  God  through  his  inspired  messengers,  and 
written  down  for  the  use  of  man.  It  cannot  be  mis- 
taken ;  for  it  is  united  in  Christ,  with  that  Life  Eternal 
which  we  profess  to  be  seeking  for.  "  I  am  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life,"  1  said  Christ ;  and  if  we  will  walk  in 

1  S.  John  xiv.  6. 


Ephraim  s  many  Altai's  to  Sin,  173 

Christ,  we  cannot  miss  either  Truth  or  Life.  Many,  and 
they  among-  the  poorest  and  plainest  people,  have  found  it 
through  simple  obedience  :  have  listened  to  the  voice  of 
the  Church,  saying,  "  This  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it/' 1  and 
have  thus  drank  in  all  Truth.  God  has  revealed  to  us  in 
the  Xew  Testament  a  fixed,  positive  doctrine  :  "  Neither  is 
there  salvation  in  any  other  than  Jesus  Christ  of  Xaza- 
reth."2  "Without  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission."  3 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can- 
not enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 4  "  There  is  one 
body,  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of 
your  calling ;  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  Baptism,  one  God 
and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in 
vou  all." 5  A  doctrine  which,  when  combined,  teaches  as 
settled  a  system  as  that  of  the  Old  Testament ;  a  system 
having  a  Creed,  and  Sacraments,  and  Church  institutions. 
"What  reason  has  any  man  who  leaves  all  this  solemn  truth, 
and  devises  a  doctrinal  system  for  himself,  to  expect  any 
other  treatment  than  Ephraim  received  ?  Xothing,  my 
people,  excuses  disobedience.  It  will  always  fetch  down 
the  denunciation  of  the  prophet :  "  Because  Ephraim  hath 
made  many  altars  to  sin,  altars  shall  be  unto  him  to  sin." 

And  what  can  sound  more  fearful,  my  hearers,  than 
such  a  declaration  as  this  ?  You  are  not  Christians ;  be- 
cause you  are  trusting  in  altars  of  your  own,  and  upon 
which  you  are  burning  your  various  sacrifices.  One  builds 
an  altar,  and  calls  it  "  Integrity,"  and  offers  upon  it  justice, 
and  honesty,  and  fair  dealing  between  man  and  man. 
Another  follows  his  example,  but  calls  his  altar  "  Benevo- 
lence," and  trusts  that  the  sacrifices  which  he  makes 
thereon  to  the  poor  and  the  widow  and  the  orphan  may 
enter  into  the  presence  of  God,  and  atone  for  his  sins. 

1  Isaiah  xxx.  21.  2  Acts  iv.  10,  12.  3  Heb.  be  22. 

4  S.  John  UL  5.  «  Eph.  iv.  4-6. 


174  Ephr aim's  many  Altars  to  Sin. 

Yet  another  designates  his  altar  hy  the  name  of  "  Good 
works,"  and  feels  assured  that  the  zeal  and  devotion  and 
bodily  exercise  which  are  spent  thereon  must  be  sufficient 
to  win  the  favor  of  God.  Still  another  altar  is  seen  to  rise 
before  us  and  upon  it  is  inscribed,  "  God  is  a  spirit,  and 
they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth ; "  and  its  worshippers  imagine  that  a  service  of  the 
heart,  without  outward  profession,  without  forms  or  sacra- 
ments, must  find  favor  with  a  spiritual  God.  How  sad  that 
these  altars,  with  their  noble  inscriptions,  with  their  frag- 
ments of  the  truth,  must  all  fall  under  the  category  of  the 
prophet's  denunciation  ;  that  these  blessed  truths,  which 
have  been  snatched  from  the  consecrated  Altar  of  the  sanc- 
tuary of  God,  should,  by  that  violence,  have  been  turned  into 
falsehood  ;  that  these  sightly  altars,  which  rise  so  proudly 
from  the  surface  of  society,  should  be  altars  unto  sin ! 
Where  is  then  your  hope  ?  You  worship  not  as  God  has 
commanded  you  to  worship,  because  you  are  trusting  in 
this  miserably  delusive  principle,  —  that  one  altar  is  as 
good  as  another  in  the  sight  of  God ;  that  "  His  can't  be 
wrong,  whose  life  is  in  the  right " ;  that  the  sacrifice  of 
good  deeds,  of  zeal,  of  devotion,  of  sincerity,  of  benevo- 
lence, is  as  potent  as  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Death  of  Christ." 
Alas  for  your  fatal  error !  You  will  find,  at  the  last,  that 
Christianity  is  a  positive  thing;  that  salvation  is  by  one 
narrow  road,  through  one  straight  gate ;  and  that  all  altars 
save  that  One  which  has  been  stained  with  the  Blood  of 
the  Lamb,  are  altars  unto  sin ! 

You  may  ask,  What  is  my  remedy  when  I  find  myself  in 
this  condition  ?  If  by  any  means  you  have  placed  yourself 
in  a  wrong  position  in  this  matter,  retrace  your  steps.  It 
may  cost  you  some  humiliation ;  some  sacrifice  of  feeling, 
or  of  interest:  but  any  thing  is  better  than  to  plunge 
through  life  in  error,  and  then  perhaps  to  lose  your  soul. 


Ephraims  many  Altars  to  Sin.  175 

And  you  will  lose  it.  just  as  certainly  as  you  rest  in  the  de- 
lusion of  being  saved  because  you  are  "honest  M  and  "  sin- 
cere." How  can  you  be  sincere  when  you  refuse  to  obey 
the  plain  written  commands  of  your  God  and  Saviour : 
unless  you  place  yourself  in  the  category  of  infidelity,  and 
say  that  you  do  not  believe  them  to  be  His  commands  ? 
How  can  you  be  sincere  when,  ranking  yourself  as  a  Chris- 
tian and  hoping  for  a  Christian's  future  condition,  you  are 
yet  not  fulfilling  a  Christian's  duty  ?  But  you  may  answer  : 
"  I  am  trying  to  live  as  a  Christian,  and  to  perform  all  my 
obligations  to  my  fellow-beings,  my  obligations  of  integrity, 
of  benevolence,  of  good  works  :  and  I  am  worshipping  God 
in  spirit  and  in  truth. "  Running  back  to  those  old  altars, 
which  I  proved  to  you  were  altars  to  sin  !  But  have  you 
obeyed  Christ's  commands  ?  Have  you  been  confirmed  ?  Do 
you  partake  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  which 
Christ  commanded  you  to  do  in  remembrance  of  Him  ?  If 
you  were  a  Christian,  or  wanted  to  be  a  Christian,  you 
would  do  as  Christ  commands  you:  —  you  would  worship 
God  where  and  as  He  instructs  you  :  you  would  connect 
yourself  with  the  visible  Church  :  you  would  live  upon  His 
Spirit.  You  may  be  sincere  when  you  say  you  cannot  be- 
lieve ;  but  that  sincerity  will  not  avail  you.  because  it  is  a 
positive  command :  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou  shait  be  saved  ; "  1  and  equally  as  positive  on  the  other 
hand :  "  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned/"  2  You 
may  be  sincere  when  you  say  that  you  cannot  repent :  but 
that  sincerity  will  not  avail  you,  because  the  declaration  is 
positive  :  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  3 
No  man  can  be  sincere  when,  with  the  Bible  in  his  hands, 
he  counts  himself  a  Christian,  and  yet  obeys  not  the  posi- 
tive commandments  of  Christ.  You  are  trifling  with  words 
and  with  your  conscience.    You  are  laying  up  for  yourself 

1  Acts  xri.  31.  2     ^jark  xyi>  16>  s  s.  Luke  xiii.  3. 


176         Ephraims  many  Altars  to  Sin. 

the  heaviest  of  all  punishments, — the  finding  out,  at  the 
last,  that  although  you  have  made  many  altars  and  sacri- 
ficed diligently  upon  them,  they  are  only  altars  to  sin. 
Your  remedy  is  to  do  with  your  altars  as  Elijah  did  with 
the  altars  to  Baal,  —  sweep  them  from  your  heart :  and  turn 
in  faith  and  humility  and  obedience  to  that  only  Altar 
which  has  streamed  from  everlasting  with  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb  "  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 

1866. 


^cbcntectttl)  Sermon. 


And  take  heed  to  yourselves,  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  over- 
charged  with  surfeiting,  and  drunkenness,  and  cares  of  this  life,  and 
so  that  day  come  upon  you  unawares.  For  as  a  snare  shall  it  come 
07i  all  them  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  —  S.  Luke 
xxi  34,  35- 

TX  many  of  the  addresses  of  our  Lord  to  His  disciples  He 
—  pursued  the  plan  which  had  been  arranged  for  the  de- 
livery of  prophecy,  giving  His  instructions  a  double  sense, 
the  one  applicable  to  the  times  which  then  were,  the  other 
stretching  into  a  distant  futurity.  While  the  substance  of 
His  remarks,  like  the  groundwork  of  prophecy,  had  its 
reality  in  the  circumstances  which  encompassed  them, 
they  were  couched  in  language  which  forbade  their  limita- 
tion to  the  events  of  time.  As  the  prophecy,  for  example, 
which  made  David  and  his  earthly  kingdom  its  basis,  was 
at  once  transferred,  by  epithets  of  surpassing  magnificence 
and  eternal  duration,  to  the  Messiah  and  His  heavenly 
Kingdom :  so  the  words  of  our  Lord,  which  applied  imme- 
diately to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  terrible 
calamities  which  should  accompany  its  fall,  were  insensibly 
passed  over,  by  an  intermixture  of  sublime  imagery,  to  the 
destruction  of  the  world,  and  the  awful  scenes  of  the  Judg- 
ment Day.  Thus  it  happened,  that  language  like  that  of 
my  text  was  applicable  not  only  to  those  who  heard  it,  but 
to  those  who  should  receive  it  until  the  end  of  time ;  — 
that  the  exhortation  to  take  heed  lest  that  day  should  come 
upon  them  unawares,  was  a  warning  not  only  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  Jerusalem,  but  to  the  people  of  the  whole  earth. 

12 


178      The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord. 

The  mode  in  which  this  coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord 
is  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  always  embodies  the 
idea  of  suddenness,  of  unexpectedness ;  and  in  our  text  it 
has  the  additional  idea  of  coming  as  a  snare.  "  But  as  the 
days  of  Noe  were,"  says  our  Lord  in  S.  Matthew,  "  so  shall 
also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be.  For  as  in  the  days 
that  were  before  the  flood  they  were  eating  and  drinking, 
marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noe 
entered  into  the  ark,  and  knew  not  until  the  flood  came, 
and  took  them  all  away ;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the 
Son  of  Man  be." 1  And  as  it  shall  be  with  all  who  shall  be 
alive  at  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  so  is  it  now,  even 
to-day,  with  us  who  are  living  upon  the  earth.  There  is, 
in  the  coming  of  Death,  a  suddenness,  an  unexpectedness, 
and  ofttimes  an  ensnaring,  which  is  awful  to  the  very  last 
degree.  Take  heed  lest  "  that  day  come  upon  you  una- 
wares." 

In  this  point  of  view  does  not  the  Son  of  Man  find  us 
every  day  just  in  the  same  condition  in  which  our  Lord 
foretells  that  the  world  shall  be  found  at  His  second  com- 
ing, "  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in  mar- 
riage"? Although  Death  hovers  perpetually  over  us, 
although  we  witness  every  day  the  strokes  which  he  inflicts, 
and  follow,  in  slow  funeral  procession,  his  victims  to  the 
tomb :  we  make  but  little  preparation  against  his  coming* 
to  ourselves.  We  are  all  living  under  the  same  sky,  drink- 
ing in  the  same  atmosphere,  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits, 
subjected  to  like  influences:  but  when  Death  takes  our 
neighbor  or  our  friend,  and  leaves  us,  —  not  a  whit  more 
worthy  to  live  or  less  exempt  from  the  power  of  Death,  — 
we  never  pause  in  the  career  of  life  to  ask,  "  Why  was  he 
taken  and  I  left "  ?  We  press  forward  mechanically,  like 
well-disciplined  troops,  who  have  to  face  a  certain  danger ; 
1  S.  Matt.  xxiv.  36-39. 


The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  179 

the  gaps  are  filled  up  so  soon  as  they  are  made ;  and  an 
unbroken  front  is  ever  presented,  even  while  an  incessant 
and  unsparing  carnage  is  going  on  around  us.  We  step 
directly  into  the  shoes  of  those  who  have  been  taken  off, 
occupying  the  houses  they  have  vacated,  filling  the  offices 
they  have  left  behind,  carrying  on  the  business  they  have 
suddenly  dropped,  never  heeding  the  warning  their  absence 
has  given  us.  And  thus  we  press  forward,  like  wave  suc- 
ceeding wave,  until  we  ourselves  are  broken  upon  the  great 
shore  of  Eternity,  and  we  pass  away  amazed,  if  we  have 
time  left  us  for  amazement,  at  the  unexpectedness  of  the 
summons  into  another  world.  And  yet  why  should  we  be 
amazed?  Every  illness,  every  accident,  every  death  of 
friend  or  acquaintance  or  relation,  was  warning  us  that  it 
would  be  so !  But  we  somehow  dreamed  that  we  should 
have  some  special  notice,  that  disease  or  Death  would  creep 
upon  us  gradually  and  give  us  full  warning;  that  we 
should  see  his  dart  poised  at  us,  long  ere  it  left  his  hand, 
and  have  time  for  numbering  our  days  and  for  laying  aside 
our  every-day  cares  and  concerns,  for  setting'  our  houses  in 
order,  for  making  our  peace  with  God,  before  it  reached  our 
hearts.  But  as  all  others  have  found  it,  save  the  few  to 
whom  God  has  granted  wisdom  to  live  as  pilgrims  and 
strangers  on  the  earth,  so  shall  we  find  it :  Death  will  come 
on  us  "  like  a  snare  "  ! 

Let  us  look  at  this  matter  in  a  practical  way,  especially 
now,  when  we  seem  to  be  living  under  a  dispensation  of 
Death !  There  are  living  in  this  city  of  ours  many  thou- 
sands of  our  fellow-creatures,  some  of  whom  die  every  day, 
every  day.  Which  of  those  who  die  expects  it  ?  Here  and 
there  is  one  whose  lingering  disease  would  lead  you  to 
expect  to  see  him  looking  for  his  end ;  yet  even  by  such  a 
bedside  do  I  find,  ofttimes,  as  little  preparation  as  by  that 
of  him  who  has  been  arrested  in  the  vigor  of  his  age. 


180      The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord. 

With  a  certainty  upon  the  mind  of  every  one  else,  that  a 
few  days,  or  at  most  a  few  weeks,  must  end  his  course  on 
earth,  the  sick  man  is  planning  for  the  future ;  and  shows 
to  all  who  look  upon  him  that  when  Death  finishes  what 
disease  has  begun,  he  will  come  as  unexpectedly  as  to  the 
child  or  to  the  healthful.  And  walk  with  me  the  market- 
place, or  the  marts  of  business;  thread  the  crowded 
streets:  and  tell  me  which  of  those  absorbed  and  eager 
beings  is  expecting  Death  ?  Which  of  them  has  thought 
of  it  ere  he  left  his  home,  and  has  asked  God's  protection 
through  the  day  ?  Stop  one,  and  tell  him  that  within  a  few 
days  he  will  be  tolled  to  his  burial,  and  that  he  will  die  in 
no  extraordinary  way,  by  no  casualty,  by  no  sudden  stroke, 
but  in  the  common  and  usual  course  of  disease :  and  he 
will  be  as  utterly  incredulous  as  if  God  had  made  him 
immortal !  convince  him  of  it,  and  he  will  complain  of  the 
suddenness  of  the  stroke,  and  will  supplicate  for  time  for 
preparation  !  And  yet  how  few  have  really  any  longer  time 
than  this  for  preparation,  taking  the  usual  course  of  dis- 
ease in  our  climate.  And  this  is  no  exaggerated  case. 
Take  the  deaths  which  have  occurred  this  very  summer 
among  our  acquaintances,  and  have  they  not  all  exhibited 
this  phase  of  suddenness,  of  unexpectedness,  if  that  can 
be  called  sudden  and  unexpected  which  is  ordinary  ?  To- 
day we  meet  an  acquaintance  as  busy  as  ourselves  ;  and  the 
next  notice  we  have  of  him  is,  that  we  are  summoned  to 
pay  the  last  tribute  to  his  memory.  Did  he  expect  Death 
any  more  than  we  ourselves?  Had  he  any  more  cause  to 
look  for  it  than  we  ?  When  we  met  him,  the  dart  was  act- 
ually projected  against  him :  but  did  we  perceive  that  he 
was  the  least  conscious  of  it?  Was  his  brow  troubled? 
Perchance  it  was ;  —  but  with  the  cares  of  this  world. 
Was  his  cheek  pallid  ?  Perchance  it  was  ;  —  but  with  anx- 
iety about  his  worldly  interests.    Was  he  setting  his  house 


The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  181 

in  order,  and  stripping  himself  of  his  absorbing  thoughts  ? 
Perchance  he  was ;  —  but  it  was  by  laying  up  for  his  future 
comfort  and  ease,  or  drowning  himself  in  luxury  and  enjoy- 
ment. Did  he  speak  of  Death  to  you  ?  "  Death !  why,  he 
was  not  thinking  of  Death.  He  was  telling  me  of  his 
plans  and  projects  for  years  to  come,  of  his  hopes  and  his 
anticipations  in  a  long  futurity.  Death,  why,  yes !  he  did 
speak  of  such  and  such  an  acquaintance  who  was  nigh 
unto  Death;  but  he  had  always  some  good  reason  why 
such  an  one  should  die,  which  could  not,  he  thought,  be 
brought  home  to  himself.  He  had  unwisely  exposed  him- 
self ;  or  his  constitution  was  naturally  weak ;  or  he  was  a 
stranger  to  the  climate  :  "  something  that  took  him  out  of 
the  category  of  Death's  victims.  Is  not  this  within  the 
experience  of  every  one  of  you?  Then  why  may  not  his 
experience  be  our  own  very  soon  ?  Xay,  is  it  not  certain 
that  it  must  be  our  own  ere  long?  We  shall  go,  as  he 
went,  unexpectedly,  to  fill  our  grave,  and  give  our  account. 

Let  us  leave  the  streets,  where  you  may  suppose  there 
would  not  be  found  much  expectation  of  Death,  and  enter 
into  the  Church,  where  the  subject  is  unceasingly  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  people.  Those  whom  you  find  upon 
Sundays  in  the  churches  of  Christ  include  probably  all  his 
elect  people, — those  who,  in  imitation  of  the  Apostles, 
should  truly  feel  that  to  them  "  to  die  is  gain."  1  Which 
of  you,  my  hearers,  —  for,  by  your  presence  here,  you 
stand  to-day  in  this  category,  —  is  expecting  Death?  —  is 
waiting  and  watching  for  him  as  your  deliverer  from  trial 
and  trouble  and  sorrow  ?  To  which  of  you,  if  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  were  now  to  say  to  you,  "  The  Master  is  come, 
and  calleth  for  thee,"  2  would  the  sound  come  as  an  alto- 
gether welcome  one  ?  Who  would  answer  upon  the  in- 
stant, with  a  shout  of  joy,  as  S.  John  cried,  when  Christ 
1  Phil.  i.  21.  2  s>  john  xi.  28. 


1 82      The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord. 

said  "  Surely  I  come  quickly  :  "  "  Amen.  Even  so,  come, 
Lord  Jesus  "  ? 1  I  do  not  ask,  Which  of  you  would  he  pre- 
pared to  die  ?  That  is  quite  another  question  ;  and  I  an- 
swer for  you  that,  I  trust,  many :  hut,  Which  of  you  is  so 
living,  as  that  it  would  not  come  unawares  ?  There  is  such 
a  thing  as  dying  in  a  state  of  faith,  while  yet  we  die  not  in 
a  state  of  preparation.  We  go  to  Christ,  hut  we  leave  not 
behind  us  a  testimony  to  His  power  over  Death  and  the 
Grave.  We  realize  our  reward;  but  we  glorify  not  our 
Saviour  in  our  latter  end. 

But  Christ  tells  us  that  this  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man 
will  he  not  merely  unexpected,  but  "  as  a  snare  "  upon 
those  that  are  upon  the  earth.  And  this  requires  a  little 
elucidation,  that  you  may  see  how  fully  it  is  verified  before 
our  eyes  even  in  these  days. 

The  snare  which  expresses  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
and  to  which  it  is  likened,  is  something  which  is  laid  so 
like  the  appearance  of  Nature  and  the  usual  condition  of 
things,  that  it  does  not  alarm  those  for  whom  it  is  spread. 
And  it  has  likewise  another  feature  which  constitutes  its 
peril,  and  that  is,  that  it  is  baited  with  such  allurements 
and  enticements  as  draw  men  into  it,  and  entrap  them  to 
their  destruction. 

That  feature  which  will  make  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
Man  so  sudden  and  so  unexpected  is  that,  as  in  the  days 
of  Noe,  the  world  will  be  found  in  its  natural  and  normal 
condition,  eating  and  drinking,  sowing  and  reaping,  marry- 
ing and  giving  in  marriage.  Every  thing  will  be  as  it  has 
been  every  day  for  ages  and  generations.  Men  will  be  car- 
rying on  the  same  pursuits ;  will  be  engaged  in  the  like 
occupations ;  will  be  excited  by  the  same  passions,  and 
absorbed  in  the  like  pursuits.  There  will  be  no  visible 
changes  in  Nature.    The  Sun  will  rise  each  day  as  bright 

1  Rev.  xxii.  20. 


The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  183 

and  unclouded  out  of  the  chambers  of  the  east,  rejoicing  as 
a  bridegroom  to  run  his  course ;  and  he  will  sink  each 
night  into  his  bed  of  clouds,  as  unchanged  as  if  the  world 
were  to  endure  forever.  The  moon,  which  comes  in  her 
appointed  season,  will  shed  her  mild  beams  of  softened  light 
upon  stream  and  tower,  upon  forest  and  lake,  upon  the 
crowded  city  and  the  desert  wilderness,  as  if  no  change 
were  ever  to  take  place  in  Nature  or  Nature's  laws.  Man 
will  ask,  "  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ?  for  since 
the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they  were  from 
the  beginning  of  the  creation  ?  "  1  And  this  is  the  snare, 
that  men  think  that  coming  will  be  preceded  by  some 
tokens  which  shall  mark  it,  by  some  shadow  forecasting 
itself  upon  the  world,  which  will  indicate  it  to  all  observers. 
But  not  so  !  When  it  comes  it  shall  have  no  sign  that  the 
natural  man  can  see,  no  forecast  that  shall  give  expectation 
to  the  world.  The  spiritual  mind  will  be  looking  for  the 
promise ;  the  student  of  the  Bible  will  have  the  foreshad- 
owing of  Prophecy ;  the  signs  of  the  times  shall  be  such  as 
they  have  been  foretold :  but  all  natural,  however  intensi- 
fied; all  in  the  usual  course  of  events,  but  still  such  as 
they  have  always  been,  only  aggravated.  There  will  be 
wars  and  rumors  of  wars  :  but  when  have  they  not  been  ? 
There  will  be  nation  rising  up  against  nation,  but  when  has 
that  not  been  ?  There  will  be  overthrow  of  governments, 
and  dethronement  of  kings,  and  destruction  of  established 
things,  and  the  multitude  triumphing  over  order  and  over 
law  :  but  all  that  will  be  considered  as  the  triumph  of  pop- 
ular wisdom,  as  the  introduction  of  man  to  his  coming  age 
of  perfectibility  and  happiness.  The  spiritual  mind  will 
understand  it;  here  and  there  one  faithful  man  upon  the 
watch-tower,  as  Simeon  looked  for  Christ ;  one  faithful 
woman  serving  God  day  and  night  in  His  Temple,  and 

1  2  S.  Peter  iii.  4. 


184      The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord. 

waiting  for  the  coming  of  her  Lord,  as  Anna  did  for  the 
infant  Jesns  :  but  that  will  be  all.  And  while  the  world  is 
rolling  on  according  to  its  usual  and  customary  course,  the 
Son  of  Man  will  come  and  take  it  as  in  a  snare,  because, 
having  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ  shining 
upon  it,  it  had  suffered  the  god  of  this  world  to  blind  its 
eyes  and  stop  its  ears.  And  then  the  Judgment :  and 
then  Eternity. 

And  what  will  make  the  snare  more  overpowering  and 
certain  in  its  operation,  will  be  the  fact  that  all  its  usual 
pursuits  will  be  intensified  and  more  absorbing  as  the 
world  approaches  its  end.  Do  you  not  perceive  that  al- 
ready ?  Are  not  the  improvements,  as  they  are  called,  in 
physical  science,  the  rapidity  of  movement,  the  constant 
flashing  of  exciting  news  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  the 
never-ending  pressure  of  business,  the  greed  after  money 
as  the  one  necessity  of  life,  all  making  the  snare  more  com- 
plete, the  world  more  enticing  ?  Is  not  man  forgetting 
that  there  is  any  God,  much  more  that  there  is  any  second 
coming  of  the  Lord ;  —  of  that  Lord,  whose  first  coming 
he  does  not  believe  in  ?  And  as  the  end  approaches,  shall 
not  this  be  more  and  still  more  the  order  of  things  ?  — 
wealth  concentrated;  luxury  abounding;  money  grasped 
at  as  the  summum  bonum,  the  one  thing  needful ;  sensual- 
ity overflowing ;  life  loved  and  cherished  for  the  lusts  of 
the  flesh ;  the  soul  forgotten ;  Heaven  and  Hell  put  aside 
as  idle  dreams.  And  when  this  is  so,  —  as  it  is  fast  get- 
ting to  be  so,  —  shall  not  the  world  so  absorb  all  thoughts 
and  all  minds,  as  that  the  snare  will  be  stretched  over  the 
whole  earth,  in  such  wise  that  nothing  shall  escape  ?  Woe 
to  the  world,  —  the  blinded  world  !  All  captured ;  all  so 
fast  bound  in  prison  that  they  "  cannot  get  forth  "  ! 1 

And  as  it  will  be  at  the  consummation  of  all  things,  so  is 

1  Psalm  lxxxviii.  3. 


The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  185 

it  now  with  us  who  make  the  present  generation,  and  who 
stand  in  relation  to  Death  as  they  stand  to  the  second  com- 
ing of  the  Lord.  Things  go  on  so  naturally  around  us ; 
one  day  succeeds  another  so  equably  and  quietly ;  men  are 
pursuing  so  precisely  the  came  courses  ;  we  sleep,  we  eat, 
we  do  business,  we  marry  and  give  in  marriage,  day  by  day, 
and  year  by  year,  as  if  there  was  no  end  :  that  it  becomes 
a  snare  to  us.  We  do  not  think  about  any  interruption  to 
the  course  of  things.  It  seems  so  natural  to  live,  that 
we  do  not  think  of  death.  If  there  was  any  sign  or  token 
to  warn  us,  we  might  take  heed ;  but  the  world  goes  on 
so  steadily,  and  life  flows  so  evenly,  and  home  to-day  is  so 
like  to  what  it  was  yesterday,  that  we  fail  into  the  snare. 
We  cannot  anticipate  any  harm  from  what  looks  so  pleas- 
ant and  so  agreeable.  And  therefore  we  float  on  upon  the 
tide  and  current,  until  Death  comes  upon  us  unawares,  and 
we  find,  when  too  late,  that  we  have  been  caught  in  the  snare 
of  natural  sequences,  and  are  swept  away  "  unawares." 

And  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  end  of  all  things,  the  snare 
was  made  all  powerful  through  the  concentrated  interests 
and  lusts  and  passions  and  cares  which  the  progress  of  the 
world  had  accumulated  and  hurled  upon  its  absorbed  in- 
habitants, —  absorbing  and  blinding  them  :  so  is  it  with  us. 
The  snare  of  natural  sequences  is  made  so  tempting  to  us 
through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  and  the  interests  of  time  and 
sense,  that  we  never  pause  to  examine  the  real  peril  of  our 
position,  but  become  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  pleasures,  of 
enjoyments,  of  cares,  of  duties,  which  swallow  up  all  our 
time,  and  enfold  us  in  their  ensnaring  and  seducing  arms. 
The  present  blots  out  the  future.  The  cloud  comes  be- 
tween us  and  God.  We  hope  and  trust  that  it  will  remove  : 
but  it  only  grows  thicker  and  thicker;  until,  forgetting 
our  religion,  our  future,  our  hopes,  our  fears,  even  our  God, 
we  are  taken  in  the  snare,  and  swept  off  "  unawares." 


1 86      The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord, 

There  are  three  temptations  against  which  our  Lord 
warns  us  most  particularly,  surfeiting,  drunkenness,  and 
the  cares  of  this  world. 

Of  the  power  of  sensual  indulgences  to  drug  the  soul 
against  any  preparation  for  Death,  I  need  hardly  speak  to 
you.  Surfeiting  and  drunkenness,  or  even  smaller  measures 
of  the  same  kind  of  viciousness,  are  so  entirely  contrary  to 
the  graces  of  Christianity,  that  it  does  not  require  much 
argument  to  show  that  they  must  be  guarded  against  by 
every  one  who  would  not  have  the  Day  of  the  Lord  to  come 
upon  him  unawares,  and  as  a  snare.  S.  Paul  speaks  of 
those  whom  he  looked  upon  as  the  "  enemies  of  the  cross 
of  Christ"1  because  they  indulged  in  such  things.  And 
when  we  see  how  they  unfit  a  man  for  any  duty,  whether 
domestic  or  social  or  civil ;  how  they  brutalize  the  charac- 
ter, and  injure  the  mind,  and  harden  the  feelings  :  we  can 
easily  understand  how  entirely  incompatible  they  are  with 
any  thing  like  a  spiritual  state  of  mind.  Indulgence  in 
them  is  fatal  to  all  Christianity ;  therefore  take  heed,  my 
hearers,  lest  they  overcome  your  hearts.  Be  not  entangled 
again  with  the  rudiments  and  beggarly  elements  of  sensu- 
ality ! 

But  take  heed  likewise  to  that  which  is  a  much  subtler 
temptation  to  most  men,  and  especially  most  Christians, 
because  it  comes  wearing  the  garb  of  duty.  I  mean  the 
cares  of  this  life,  which  are  particularly  singled  out  in  my 
text.  Alas  !  how  many,  without  any  vice  that  one  can  lay 
his  hand  upon,  wreck  their  spiritual  hopes  upon  this  rock. 
And  how  striking  it  is  that  Christ  should  place  these  along- 
side of  surfeiting  and  drunkenness,  as  most  likely  of  all 
things  to  overcharge  the  heart.  What  a  striking  expres- 
sion, overcharge  the  heart !  Not  the  mind,  not  the  body ; 
but  the  heart,  the  seat  of  the  feelings  and  affections.  And 

i  Phil.  iii.  18. 


The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  187 

how  universal  is  the  temptation  !  It  comes  home  to  every- 
body. Who  has  not  something  to  do  with  the  cares  of 
life  ?  The  father  to  his  business,  the  mother  to  her  house- 
hold, and  both  to  the  interests  of  their  children  ;  —  the  rich 
to  their  wealth,  having  really  more  care  than  anybody; 
the  poor  to  their  need ;  the  old  to  the  accumulation  of  their 
lives;  the  young  to  their  plans  and  their  anticipations. 
It  is  duty,  some  of  it ;  but  duty  which  must  be  watched ! 
No  one  can  live  without  encountering,  in  some  measure, 
the  duties  of  life,  and  therefore  the  cares  of  life ;  but  you 
can  live  so  as  to  prevent  your  hearts  from  being  over- 
charged: over-charged — mark  the  word  !  —  not  "charged," 
for  the  heart  must,  to  a  certain  degree,  be  charged  with 
them ;  but  over-charged  !  Christ  rebuked  Martha,  not  be- 
cause she  was  engaged  in  household  duties,  for  that  was 
her  legitimate  function;  but  because  she  was  permitting 
them  to  absorb  her  heart,  and  take  that  away  from  rich 
opportunities  of  religious  instruction.  "  But  one  thing  is 
needful." 1   Every  thing  must  be  subordinated  to  that. 

The  cares  of  this  life  must  be  strictly  under  the  control 
of  a  well-regulated  heart,  otherwise  they  will  overpower 
us.  The  temptation  is  the  other  way, — to  apportion  our 
religious  duties  according  to  our  worldly  cares,  diminishing 
those  as  these  increase :  that  is,  to  take  less  heed  as  our 
peril  increases.  This  is  folly :  for  when  cares  increase, 
which  they  always  do  with  years,  then  are  prayer,  consid- 
eration, thoughtfulness,  and  other  religious  duties  most 
necessary  for  us ;  for  they  alone  can  turn  the  cares  of  life 
into  religion,  and  make  that  burden  light  and  easy,  which 
would,  under  other  circumstances,  be  intolerable.  It  is 
dreadful  to  think  of  a  Christian  being  taken  by  the  coming 
of  his  Lord,  as  in  a  snare ;  and  yet  this  will  be  his  condi- 
tion, unless  he  take  heed  of  those  things  which  over- 
1  S.  Luke  x.  42. 


1 88      The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord. 

charge  the  heart.  Our  Lord,  you  see,  places  the  man  or 
the  woman  who  is  absorbed  in  the  cares  of  this  life  upon 
the  same  footing,  as  regards  preparedness  for  Death  or  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  with  the  glutton  and  the 
drunkard.  And  for  this  plain  reason,  that  while  they  oper- 
ate in  different  ways,  they  alike  take  the  heart  from  God  and 
from  eternity ;  they  alike  overcharge  the  heart,  and  make 
men  forget  their  accountability,  and  wrap  them  in  a  dream 
of  security :  until  death  enfolds  them  as  in  a  snare,  and 
they  perish !  Take  heed  lest  "  that  day  come  upon  you 
unawares  "  ! 

And  to  you,  who  have  not  yet  attended  to  the  concerns 
of  your  souls,  let  me  beseech  you  to  secure  their  salvation 
while  you  are  in  health.  Besides  the  snare  which  the  vigor 
of  life,  and  the  natural  sequence  of  things,  and  the  cares 
of  this  life,  enwrap  around  you :  even  when  you  are  sick, 
friends,  relations,  physicians,  all  who  love  you  and  care  for 
you,  will  cherish  and  increase  that  snare.  When  you  are 
sick,  they  will  not  believe  that  you  are  going  to  be  danger- 
ously so ;  when  ill,  they  will  not  permit  you  to  be  disturbed, 
as  they  call  it,  by  religious  thoughts  and  exercises,  lest  you 
should  be  made  more  ill :  and  when  you  have  reached  that 
stage  in  which  they  acknowledge  the  necessity  of  your 
turning  your  thoughts  to  your  soul,  in  what  condition  will 
you  be  for  preparation,  —  a  preparation  which  you  have 
neglected  ?  Is  the  whole  period  of  an  ordinary  sickness  in 
our  climate  sufficient  for  such  a  mighty  work  ?  How  much 
less,  then,  its  closing  passages,  when  the  body  is  weak,  and 
the  mind  clouded,  and  the  spirit  frightened  and  fluttering 
at  its  approaching  separation  !  My  hearer,  if  you  would 
not  have  Death  come  upon  you  "  unawares "  and  "  as  a 
snare,"  prepare  for  it  while  you  are  yet  in  health !  Christ 
bade  us  watch,  because,  He  said,  we  know  not  when  the 
Master  of  the  house  will  come,  whether  "  at  even,  or 


The  Coming  of  the  Day  of  the  Lord.  189 

at  midnight,  or  at  the  cock-crowing,  or  in  the  morning." 1 
The  pestilence  "  walketh  in  darkness."  2  Take  heed,  "  while 
it  is  called  To-day,"  3  lest  Death  come  npon  you  unawares, 
and  as  a  snare ! 

August  19th  1866. 
*  S.  Mark  xiii.  35.  2  Psalm  xci.  6.  3  Heb.  iii.  13. 


ei$)tzmit)  Sermon. 


Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth  :  thy  word  is  truth.  —  S.  John 
xvii.  17. 

Q<  0  far  as  individuals  are  concerned,  the  main  object  of 
revealed  religion  is  the  formation  of  character.  Chris- 
tianity was  never  intended  to  be  inoperative ;  but  in  its  very 
birth  was  filled  with  the  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  pro- 
ducing changes  which  filled  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  with 
awe  and  astonishment.  And  that  divine  energy  did  not 
expire  with  the  day  of  Pentecost,  but  manifested  itself 
wherever  the  Cross  was  lifted  up  by  the  Apostles  of  Revela- 
tion. Christians  were  made  Christians,  in  the  truest  sense 
of  the  word,  out  of  every  sort  of  material,  —  out  of  fanat- 
ics, out  of  fornicators,  out  of  idolators,  out  of  adulterers, 
out  of  thieves,  out  of  covetous,  out  of  drunkards,  out  of 
revilers,  out  of  extortioners ;  for  "  such,"  says  S.  Paul,  in 
his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  "  were  some  of  you  : 
but  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
God."  1  And  this  is  still  the  purpose  of  our  holy  relig- 
ion, —  the  sanctification  of  the  individual  character ;  the 
making  such  fallen  creatures  as  we  are,  fit  for  earth  and 
then  fit  for  Heaven.  This  was  a  part  of  that  solemn 
prayer  which  our  blessed  Lord  made  to  His  Father  just  be- 
fore He  took  His  farewell  of  earth,  and  was  commending  to 
Him  His  beloved  disciples :  "  Sanctify  them,  0  Father, 

through  thy  truth  :  thy  word  is  truth  Neither  pray 

J  1  Cor.  vi.  11. 


Thy  Word  is  Truth.  191 

I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall  believe  on 
me  through  their  word."  He  forgot  us  not  in  that  hour 
of  His  deepest  sorrow ;  but  recorded  for  us  in  Heaven  His 
earnest  supplication,  that  His  work  might  produce  in  us 
that  richest  of  all  its  personal  effects,  holiness  of  character 
and  of  life. 

We  should,  as  Christians,  my  beloved  people,  keep  this 
perpetually  in  our  minds,  —  that  unless  Christianity  sancti- 
fies us,  it  falls  short  of  its  intended  purpose.  To  make  our 
religion  a  matter  of  mere  sentiment,  a  thing  of  feeling  and 
not  of  practice,  is  to  emasculate  it,  to  strip  it  of  its  power 
and  its  glory.  In  the  discipline  of  its  children,  the  world 
aims  at  the  formation  of  characters  which  shall  be  suitable 
for  its  purposes ;  and  so  likewise  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
characters  are  to  be  created  which  shall  illustrate  the  mis- 
sion of  our  Saviour  on  earth,  and  then  glorify  it  in  Heaven. 
It  is  not  rJL  that  merely  crieth,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  that  is  the 
Christian  ;  but  it  is  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  God.  Profes- 
sion and  practice  are  very  widely  different  things.  The  one 
may  satisfy  man,  and  may  blind  the  Church  while  militant 
upon  earth ;  but  it  is  only  the  other  which  can  satisfy  God. 
He  cannot  be  deceived  by  words  and  sentiment.  He  must 
have  the  imitation  of  Christ  in  the  life,  —  the  advancing 
holiness  which  tells  that  the  Christian  is  growing  in  grace, 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord.  To  be  a  Christian,  and 
to  stand  still  in  character,  are  incompatible  terms.  To  be 
a  Christian,  and  not  to  be  struggling  to  overcome  evil  feel- 
ings, bad  habits,  wrong  temper,  idle  words,  are  inharmoni- 
ous positions.  "  Onward,"  should  ever  be  the  Christian's 
motto,  for  holiness  should  ever  be  the  Christian's  goal. 
Without  holiness,  says  S.  Paul,  "  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord."  1  Even  in  the  progress  of  life,  one  is  expected  to 
grow  wiser  and  more  sober  and  more  experienced  as  age 

1  Heb.  xii.  14. 


192  Thy  Word  is  Truth. 

creeps  on ;  and  shall  the  Church  expect  less  of  her  wor- 
shippers? S.  Paul  says,  "When  I  was  a  child,  I  spake  as 
a  child,  I  understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child  :  but 
when  I  became  a  man,  I  put  away  childish  things."1 
Christians  are  not  to  be  always  children,  to  be  fed  on  milk : 
they  must  seek  after  strength ;  they  must  search  for  wis- 
dom ;  they  must  rejoice  in  experience ;  they  must  cultivate 
the  graces  of  Christianity ;  they  must  learn  to  be  able  to 
grapple  with  hard  sayings,  to  digest  strong  meat.  S. 
Paul's  rebuke  to  the  Hebrews  was  :  "  For  when  for  the 
time  ye  ought  to  be  teachers,  ye  have  need  that  one  teach 
you  again  which  be  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of 
God  ;  and  are  become  such  as  have  need  of  milk,  and  not 
of  strong  meat.  For  every  one  that  useth  milk  is  unskill- 
ful in  the  word  of  righteousness ;  for  he  is  a  babe.  But 
strong  meat  belongeth  to  them  that  are  of  full  age,  even 
those  who  by  reason  of  use  have  their  senses  exercised  to 
discern  both  good  and  evil."  2 

Sanctification  of  character  is  therefore  an  indispensable 
requisite  of  every  Christian,  and  he  must  search  for  the 
means  which  have  been  arranged  by  God  for  his  advance- 
ment. Our  discipline,  during  this  first  Advent  of  our 
Saviour,  is  to  fit  us  for  His  second  Advent ;  and  the  Word 
of  God  is  that  means  to  which  the  Church  especially  calls 
us  to-day.  The  Collect  which  has  been  read  to  you  this 
morning  concentrates  in  itself  the  full  essence  of  my  text : 
"  Blessed  Lord,  who  has  caused  all  holy  Scriptures  to  be 
written  for  our  learning ; "  and  the  Epistle  reiterates  the 
same  truth :  "  Whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime, 
were  written  for  our  learning."  And  what  that  learning  is, 
we  ascertain  by  turning  to  the  Epistle  to  Timothy,  where 
the  Apostle  says  :  "  All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correc- 

1 1  Cor.  xiii.  11.  2  Heb.  v.  12-14. 


Thy  Word  is  Truth, 


193 


tion,  for  instruction  in  righteousness :  that  the  man  of  God 
may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.5' 1 
When  our  blessed  Lord,  therefore,  was  supplicating  His 
Father  for  our  sanctification,  He  was  also  designating  the 
instrument  through  which  it  was  to  be  pursued  :  "  Sanc- 
tify them  through  thy  truth  :  thy  word  is  truth."  Ifc  was 
truth  which  was  to  advance  his  people  in  character,  and  in 
knowledge,  and  in  spiritual  understanding ;  and  that  truth 
was  to  be  found  in  the  word :  primarily  in  Christ,  The 
Word  ;  and  then  secondarily  in  that  which  remains  to  us 
as  the  transcript  of  Christ,  the  written  Word,  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  records  left  us  by  holy  men  speaking  "  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.'5 

How  important  then,  my  beloved  people,  is  it  to  us,  that 
we  should  make  ourselves  intimately  familiar  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  when  we  find  them  presented  to  us  by  Christ  in 
this  most  solemn  manner  as  the  great  means  of  our  sancti- 
fication ;  and  that,  because  they  embody  divine  truth.  Man 
affirms  perpetually  that  he  is  in  search  of  truth ;  that  all 
his  efforts  are  to  discover  it ;  that  his  struggles  are  hardest 
when  they  lie  between  truth  and  error :  and  yet,  when  ab- 
solute unmixed  Truth  is  presented  to  him,  how  hard  it  is 
to  make  him  either  admire  it,  or  receive  it.  Christ  says,  "  I 
am  the  Truth  :  "  and  man  turns  away  from  Christ.  He  says 
again,  "  Thy  word  is  truth : "  and  man  neglects  and  de- 
spises that  Word.  What  more  can  be  done  for  man  ? 
"  Buy  the  truth  and  sell  it  not,"  2  is  the  injunction  of  the 
wise  man ;  but  we  will  not  receive  it  when  it  is  offered  to 
us  without  money  and  without  price.  Can  any  thing  show 
us  more  strikingly  the  evil  heart  of  unbelief?  What  we 
pretend  to  crave,  what  we  affirm  that  we  desire  more  than 
we  can  express,  we  reject,  when  it  is  thrown  at  our  feet,  a 
gift  from  God,  purchased  at  the  price  of  the  Blood  of  His 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17.  2  prov>  xxiii.  23. 

13 


1 94  Thy  Word  is  Truth. 

only-begotten  and  well-beloved  Son !  Pilate  sneeringly 
asked,  "  What  is  truth  ?  "  showing  us  how  profoundly  skep- 
tical the  world  was  in  his  day  about  truth  :  and  when 
Christ  has  answered  that  question  for  us,  saying,  "  Thy 
word  is  truth,"  we  will  not  deign  to  receive  it.  We  press 
on,  looking  for  that  which  lies  in  our  pathway,  and  which 
has  become  so  precious  a  comfort  to  the  world.  Amazing 
inconsistency !  incredible  except  upon  the  hypothesis  of  the 
Bible :  "  But  if  our  Gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that 
are  lost :  in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the 
minds  of  them  which  believe  not." 1 

It  is  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  is  to  sanc- 
tify us.  They  are  truth,  and  truth  is  God's  agent.  But 
in  order  for  truth  to  produce  this  transforming  effect  upon 
the  character,  it  must  be  received  as  truth,  really  and  cor- 
dially received,  so  that  the  heart  can  repose  upon  it  with 
confidence  as  Truth  indeed.  This  therefore  demands  of 
you,  my  hearers,  that  you  should  satisfy  yourselves  as  to 
the  truth  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  You  think  that  you 
believe  them ;  you  would  be  shocked  to  be  counted  as  un- 
believers :  and  yet.  if  you  examine  yourselves,  many  of  you 
would  find  that  there  is  no  such  belief  in  the  Scriptures  as 
makes  you  receive  them  as  the  infallible  Word  of  God ;  as 
wiser  than  all  ancients  or  teachers ;  as  uttering  words 
which  no  man  should  be  bold  enough  to  gainsay  or  contra- 
dict. Your  conduct  proves  this  :  for  in  practical  conduct  a 
man's  real  faith  comes  out ;  and  when  you  come  to  practice, 
you  are  found  clinging  to  the  laws  and  proverbs  of  worldly 
policy  more  closely  than  to  the  Word  of  God.  The  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible  are  many  of  them  considered  unreason- 
able and  fanatical,  not  to  say  foolish ;  its  precepts  are 
deemed  not  to  be  suited  for  life,  however  much  they  may  be 
suited  to  another  and  more  spiritual  world  ;  its  graces  are 

1  2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4. 


Thy  Word  is  Truth,  195 

not  reckoned  to  be  such  as  could  be  safely  depended  upon 
in  the  whirl  and  tumult  of  life.  This  is  what  many  men 
consider  as  belief,  —  a  general  acquiescence  in  the  Bible,  as 
the  Word  of  God  in  some  form  or  manner  :  but  no  such 
trust  in  it  as  should  make  them  rest  upon  it  as  the  guide 
of  their  conduct,  and  the  rule  of  their  daily  life.  In  such  a 
belief  as  this  there  can  be  no  power  of  sanctification,  for 
that  comes  through  the  very  struggles  which  truth  forces 
upon  us  when  we  come  into  conflict  with  the  world.  It  is 
a  real,  earnest  heart-belief  ;  a  thing  to  rest  upon  in  opposi- 
tion to,  and  contradiction  of,  every  thing  which  opposes  it ; 
a  reception  of  all  which  it  affirms, — its  hard  sayings,  it- 
supernatural  requirements,  its  spiritual  life  ;  an  active,  liv- 
ing faith  in  its  promises  and  its  threatenings :  in  fine,  an 
adoption  of  it  as  Truth  not  to  be  controverted  or  over- 
turned. Such  a  belief  in  the  Bible  as  this,  gives  it  power 
over  the  whole  character  ;  creates  in  us  a  life  of  faith  in 
harmony  with  our  sentiments  ;  and  leads  us  onward  iu  the 
divine  likeness,  and  changes  us  from  grace  to  grace  into 
the  image  of  our  Saviour.  A  vague  acquiescence  produces 
nothing.  It  fades  before  every  difficulty,  and  is  turned 
aside  by  every  lion  in  the  path.  It  has  no  foundation 
stronger  than  the  current  opinion  of  the  society  in  which 
one  moves;  or  the  force  of  habit,  or  education.  It  may 
produce  a  moral  life,  but  never  sanctification.  That  must 
be  the  product  of  Truth ;  divine,  infallible,  unchanging,  for- 
ever operating.  To  say,  "  I  believe,"  and  then  never  act 
up  to  that  belief ;  to  profess  faith  in  Christ  and  His  work, 
and  then  never  to  show  any  fruit  of  that  faith  in  one's  con- 
duct ;  to  speak  of  the  Word  of  God  as  truth,  and  then  to 
live  as  if  you  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  all  a 
lie ;  is  not  Christianity  :  for  it  can  never  lead  on  to  the  end 
of  Christianity,  which  is  sanctification. 

Ere  the  prayer  of  our  Lord  can  be  fulfilled  in  us,  there- 


196 


Thy  Word  is  Truth. 


fore,  my  beloved  hearers,  we  must  be  true  believers  in  the 
Word  of  God:  otherwise  we  cannot  be  sanctified  by  it. 
Therefore  is  it  that  in  the  Collect  for  the  Day  our  prayer  is 
not  merely  that  we  may  read,  but  that  we  may  "  mark, 
learn  and  inwardly  digest "  the  Scriptures ;  may  assimi- 
late them  to  ourselves  ;  may  make  them  a  part  of  our  daily 
growth.  In  no  other  way  can  they  produce  in  us  the  re- 
sult which  they  are  intended  to  produce.  A  mere  cursory 
reading  of  the  Scriptures  may  ease  our  consciences,  as 
the  performance  of  a  daily  duty ;  may  awaken  interest,  or 
admiration  of  character,  or  style,  or  pathos :  but  will  pro- 
duce no  effect  in  changing  the  character  to  a  higher  state 
holiness.  No  one  can  understand  the  inner,  life-giving 
meaning  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  unless  it  be  interpreted 
to  him ;  and  no  one  can  interpret  it  so  well  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  who  inspired  it ;  and  that  Holy  Spirit  can  be  brought 
down  to  us  only  by  prayer.  To  receive  sanctification 
through  the  Word  of  Truth,  therefore,  we  must  accompany 
it  by  prayer,  —  earnest,  faithful  prayer  for  an  enlightened 
understanding  and  an  obedient  heart ;  for  willingness  to 
know  the  truth,  and  for  still  greater  willingness  to  prac- 
tice it ;  for  faith  in  it  when  we  have  learned  to  know  it, 
and  for  reliance  upon  it  when  we  may  be  put  to  the  test 
through  some  deeper  waters  or  more  fiery  trials.  Some 
holy  men  have  never  studied  the  Scriptures  save  on  their 
knees ;  and  such  students  have  ever  found  the  truth  to  be 
sanctifying  them,  and  making  them  more  meet  for  com- 
munion with  their  God.  If  we  would  be  sanctified  through 
the  truth,  we  must  study  it  in  this  way.  By  no  other  pro- 
cess can  we  reach  the  higher  steps  of  the  divine  life.  If 
we  would  gain  rich  views  of  our  heavenly  home,  we  must 
climb  the  heights  which  rise  perpetually  as  we  advance  in 
the  Christian  pilgrimage.  There  is  no  reward  for  indo- 
lence, for  lukewarmness,  for  indifference,  for  carelessness. 


Thy  Word  is  Truth, 


197 


These  traits  of  character  will  always  make  us  slow  trav- 
ellers in  the  divine  life ;  and  will  mar  our  Christian  happi- 
ness here,  as  well  as  diminish  our  reward  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven. 

God's  Word,  absolute  Truth !  What  a  precious  consola- 
tion for  us  in  a  world  like  this,  to  know  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  Truth  !  As  we  advance  in  life,  we  grow  more 
faithless  in  every  thing,  especially  in  our  conclusions  about 
things  intellectual  and  moral.  In  early  life  we  form  opin- 
ions, which  we  think  that  nothing  can  ever  shake;  but 
time,  and  experience,  and  a  maturer  consideration,  make 
all  our  fabrics  to  totter,  and  involve  in  one  general  distrust 
every  thing  upon  which  we  had  determined  to  rest.  What 
can  compensate  us  for  such  a  condition  of  things  P  What 
can  once  again  revive  faith  and  confidence  within  us? 
Wliat  can  renew  our  youth,  and  roll  us  back  to  the  precious 
hours  of  believing  innocence  ?  Nothing  on  earth.  There 
is  naught  that  can  give  us  back  to  ourselves,  but  the  recep- 
tion of  God's  Word  as  divine  Truth.  How  the  heart  yearns 
for  something  to  trust  in,  to  act  upon,  to  cling  to  as  a  sure 
anchor  within  the  veil !  How  the  seared  and  callous  spirit 
longs  to  soar  once  more  upon  the  wings  of  Faith  and  Hope, 
and  find  peace  in  believing!  Well,  the  yearning  of  the 
soul  and  the  longing  of  the  spirit  can  both  be  gratified  in 
the  Word  of  God;  for,  says  our  blessed  Saviour,  "Thy 
word  is  truth."  Oh  precious  declaration  !  Oh  divine  an- 
nouncement !  Well  may  the  angels  call  it  the  Gospel,  the 
"  glad  tidings,"  and  desire  to  look  into  it,  and  understand 
it !  In  this  Word,  0  worn  and  jaded  and  deceived  man, 
may  you  find  a  resting-place ;  nay  more,  a  place  in  which 
you  may  cast  aside  the  garments  soiled  by  a  deceitful  world, 
and  array  yourself  in  the  robe  of  truth  and  of  holiness. 
Your  course  is  not  finished  because  the  world  has  deceived 
you,  because  your  own  understanding  has  played  you  false. 


Thy  Word  is  Truth, 


Your  life  is  not  ended  because  one  phase  of  it  has  been  a 
delusive  play  of  error  and  falsehood.  There  is  something 
yet  untried ;  a  new  course  to  be  entered  upon,  in  which 
you  will  find  no  deception  and  no  falsehood  ;  a  fresh  life  to 
be  begun,  wherein  truth  will  cause  your  path  to  shine 
brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day.  Come  to  the 
Word  of  God ;  study  it  under  the  guidance  of  the  Church 
and  the  Spirit ;  embrace  it  as  divine  Truth  ;  let  it  sink  into 
your  heart  as  life-giving  and  life-restoring:  and  you  will 
find  that  every  thing  within  you  will  be  changed  under  its 
divine  influence ;  and  that  every  thing  outside  of  you  will 
catch  the  light  which  now  illuminates  you ;  and  will  be 
irradiated,  no  matter  how  dark  and  sombre  your  prospects 
may  have  seemed,  with  the  brightness  which  Truth  reflects 
upon  them.  You  will  then,  for  the  first  time,  no  matter 
how  long  you  may  have  lived  the  life  of  the  world,  realize 
the  transforming  power  of  Truth,  not  only  within,  but  with- 
out the  soul. 

Is  this  sanctifying  process  going  on  within  you,  and 
upon  you,  my  beloved  hearers  ?  Are  you  growing  in  grace 
as  you  grow  in  years  ?  Is  Christianity  working  upon  you 
such  changes  as  it  is  intended  to  work  ?  Or  are  you  rather 
at  ease  in  Zion,  satisfied  with  your  attainments  and  settled 
upon  your  lees  ?  Beware  of  this  condition !  If  you  are 
not  advancing  in  holiness,  the  probability  —  nay,  almost  the 
certainty  —  is  that  you  are  moving  backwards.  Religion 
in  the  heart  needs  constant  cherishing.  It  is  a  plant  in  an 
unkindly  soil.  Every  thing  is  against  it.  It  is  like  rowing 
against  the  wind  and  the  tide :  constant  exertion  may  urge 
you  forward ;  but  the  cessation  of  exertion  certainly  places 
you  at  the  mercy  of  the  contending  elements,  and  you  drift 
backwards.  Christ  would  never  have  called  upon  His 
Father  in  that  most  solemn  hour  of  prayer  to  sanctify  us 
with  His  Truth,  if  He  had  not  known,  as  a  man  tempted  in 


Thy  Word  is  Truth. 


199 


all  things  as  we  ourselves  are,  what  a  struggle  it  requires 
in  us  to  advance  in  holiness  !  Let  us  remember  this,  fellow- 
Christians,  that  our  aim  should  be  sanetification,  improve- 
ment in  Christian  character,  an  onward  movement  towards 
a  higher  perfection  of  holiness.  Such  injunctions  as  these, 
"  Be  ye  holy ;  for  I  am  holy," 1  u  Be  ye  therefore  perfect, 
even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect,"  2  occur 
in  the  Scriptures ;  and  suggest  to  us  the  point  of  attain- 
ment after  which  we  are  expected  to  strive.  How  earn- 
estly the  Apostles  looked  towards  perfection  !  "I  count  not 
myself  to  have  apprehended,"  said  the  ambitious  S.  Paul, 
—  ambitious  after  the  image  of  Christ  his  Lord  :  "  but  this 
one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind, 
and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I 
press  forward  the  mark." 3  "  Toward  the  mark,"  was  ever 
his  motto  !  Although  humble  enough  to  say,  "  By  the 
grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am,"  4  he  was  yet  enthusiastic 
enough  to  look  forward  at  the  "  prize  of  the  high  calling."  5 
Let  us  endeavor  to  imbibe  this  spirit,  to  drink  in  of  his  ar- 
dent zeal.  Lukewarmness  is  peculiarly  hateful  to  Christ, 
the  Head  of  the  Church.  He  spues  it  out  of  His  mouth  ! 
The  Word  of  God  is  one  of  the  great  means  whereby  we 
may  get  rightminded  views  upon  this  topic,  for  it  "  is  quick, 
and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  pierc- 
ing even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of 
the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts 
and  intents  of  the  heart."  6  What  an  instrument !  Sent, 
too,  not  for  destruction,  but  for  our  blessing  and  comfort ; 
sent  to  sanctify  us ;  sent  to  bless  us ;  sent  to  comfort  us  ; 
sent  to  give  us  the  blessed  hope  of  everlasting  life ;  sent  to 
prepare  us  in  heart  and  soul  for  the  fruition  of  those  joys 

1 1  S.  Pet.  i.  16.  2  g.         v  48>  3  phil>  m  i3j  14i 

4  1  Cor.  xv.  10.  5  Phil.  iii.  14.  6  Heb.  iv.  12. 


200 


Thy  Word  is  Truth. 


of  which  it  is  written  :  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things 
which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him." 

1865. 

1 1  Cor.  ii.  9. 


Mmtzmfy  Sermon 


In  those  days  came  John  the  Baptist,  preaching  in  the  wilderness 
of  Judcea,  and  saying,  Repent  ye :  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand.  For  this  is  he  that  was  spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Esaias,  say- 
ing, The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way 
of  the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight.  —  S.  Matthew  iii.  1-3. 

TT  has  struck  me  very  forcibly,  in  studying  the  Bible  and 
comparing  its  prophecy  with  its  narrative,  that  unless 
the  essential  Divinity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
was  received  as  its  orthodox  teaching,  a  very  grave  charge 
might  be  brought  against  the  whole  Revelation,  —  a  no 
less  charge  than  that  of  directly  plunging  the  sincere  and 
the  devout  into  the  damning  sin  of  creature- worship.  I 
say  of  directly  plunging ;  for  a  Revelation  should  be  liable 
to  this  accusation,  which,  not  intending  that  those  who 
embraced  it  should  receive  its  proffered  Saviour  as  God, 
should  yet  invest  him  with  all  the  glory  with  which  it  sur- 
rounds and  describes  the  Godhead.  What  could  the  Rev- 
elation, which  we  accept  as  from  God,  do  more  to  mislead 
us  upon  this  point  (if  it  be  not  the  truth),  than  it  has 
done  ?  What  more  than  give  Jesus  Christ  all  the  titles  of 
God  ?  What  more  than  clothe  Him  with  all  the  attributes 
of  God  ?  What  more  than  separate  Him,  as  it  has  done, 
from  all  human  creatures  and  all  angelic  spirits,  and  place 
Him  alongside  of  Jehovah  as  His  fellow  and  His  everlast- 
ing counsellor?  What  more  than  denounce  all  worship, 
save  that  of  God,  as  idolatry,  and  not  only  permit  but 
charge  all  things  in  Heaven  and  earth  to  worship  Jesus  ? 


202 


John  the  Baptist, 


All  this  is  plainer  even  than  so  many  direct  affirmations 
of  the  fact;  for  it  is  interweaving  the  Name  of  Jesus  so 
closely  with  that  of  Jehovah,  that  one  cannot  separate 
them,  and  must  be  guilty  either  of  degrading  Christ  far 
below  any  thing  which  a  fair  interpretation  of  the  Script- 
ures will  permit,  or  else  of  confounding  God  and  Christ 
continually,  in  thought,  word  and  worship,  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  soul.  It  is  impossible  to  do  what  the  Bible 
commands  us,  impossible  to  worship  as  the  Bible  enjoins  us 
to  worship,  impossible  to  administer  and  receive  sacraments 
as  the  Bible  arranges  that  they  shall  be  administered  and 
received,  without  being  guilty  of  creature-worship,  —  if 
Jesus  Christ  be  not  God;  without  bringing  upon  us  the 
curse  of  serving  other  gods, — if  our  Redeemer,  the  Mes- 
siah of  the  Jews,  the  Christ  of  the  Gospel,  be  not  a  Per- 
son of  that  Triune  Godhead,  which  is  the  great  mystery  of 
earth  and  Heaven. 

My  text  has  led  me  naturally  into  this  train  of  thought ; 
for,  in  considering  the  prophetic  and  evangelic  offices  of 
John  the  Baptist  (to  which  the  Church  especially  directs 
our  attention  to-day),  and  using  them  as  incitements  to 
urge  upon  you  repentance  and  faith  as  the  proper  prepara- 
tions for  the  coming  of  Christ,  it  is  necessary  to  observe 
how  the  Bible  first  exalts  John  the  Baptist,  and  then  how 
it  exhibits  him  as  humbling  himself  before  Jesus  Christ  as 
his  Lord  and  his  God. 

As  between  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead,  John  the  Bap- 
tist is  the  only  individual  noted  in  prophecy.  All  the 
chosen  servants  of  Christ  under  the  Gospel  were  called 
after  they  had  reached  mature  life ;  but  nothing  had  been 
spoken  of  them  before  in  Holy  Writ.  Not  so  with  John 
the  Baptist.  Upon  his  birth  and  office  and  habits  had  holy 
men  of  old  spoken  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 


John  the  Baptist,  203 

Isaiah  had  predicted  him  in  those  rich  verses,  "  The  voice 
of  him  that  crieth  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way 
of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for 
our  God.  Every  valley  shall  he  exalted,  and  every  moun- 
tain and  hill  shall  he  made  low :  and  the  crooked  shall  he 
made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain  :  and  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  shall  he  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it 
together :  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it." 1 
Malachi  closes  the  volume  of  Old  Testament  inspiration 
with  a  prediction  and  description  of  him :  "  Behold,  I  will 
send  my  messenger,  and  he  shall  prepare  the  way  before 
me :  and  the  Lord,  whom  ye  seek,  shall  suddenly  come  to 
his  temple,  even  the  messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye 
delight  in :  behold,  he  shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of 
Hosts."2  And  again:  "Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah 
the  prophet  before  the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful 
day  of  the  Lord  :  and  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the 
fathers  to  the  children,  and  the  heart  of  the  children  to 
their  fathers,  lest  I  come  and  smite  the  earth  with  a 
curse."  3  And  this  at  once  places  him  above  all  the  most 
exalted  characters  of  the  Scriptures,  even  supposing  that 
there  was  nothing  more  to  distinguish  him  from  his 
brethren. 

But  his  birth  and  the  inspired  blessing  of  his  father 
Zacharias  betoken  that  a  most  wonderful  personage  was 
born  into  the  world.  His  conception  was  supernatural, 
seeing  that  his  parents  were  both  past  age ;  and  that  con- 
ception was  announced,  as  a  special  answer  of  God  to 
prayer,  by  the  mouth  of  an  angel :  "  Fear  not,  Zacharias  : 
for  thy  prayer  is  heard ;  and  thy  wife  Elizabeth  shall  bear 
thee  a  son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  John.  And  thou 
shalt  have  joy  and  gladness ;  and  many  shall  rejoice  at  his 
birth.    For  he  shall  be  great  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and 

1  Isaiah  xl.  3-5.  2  Mai.  iii.  1.  3  Ibid.  iv.  5,  6. 


204  John  the  Baptist. 

shall  drink  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink ;  and  he  shall  he 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  from  his  mother's  womh. 
And  many  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  he  turn  to  the 
Lord  their  God.  And  he  shall  go  before  him  in  the  spirit 
and  power  of  Elias,  to  tujn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the 
children,  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just ;  to 
make  ready  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord."  1  And  when 
the  miraculous  birth  has  taken  place,  and  the  Spirit  has 
filled  Zacharias,  he  thus  predicts  the  glorious  career  of  his 
son  :  "  And  thou,  child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the 
Highest :  for  thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to 
prepare  his  ways ;  to  give  knowledge  of  salvation  unto  his 
people  by  the  remission  of  their  sins,  through  the  tender 
mercy  of  our  God." 2  Of  no  human  being  were  ever  more 
glorious  things  than  these  spoken  ;  upon  no  creature  could 
be  heaped  more  exalted  offices.  And  when  Jesus  had  occa- 
sion afterwards  to  speak  of  him,  He  says  emphatically: 
"  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Among  them  that  are  born  of 
women  there  hath  not  risen  a  greater  than  John  the  Bap- 
tist. "  3  Abraham,  though  styled  "  the  friend  of  God,"  was 
not  greater.  Moses,  though  permitted  to  speak  face  to 
face  with  God,  was  not  greater.  David,  though  the  man 
after  God's  own  heart,  was  not  greater.  And  yet  see  in 
what  relation  the  Bible  places  this  mighty  prophet,  to 
Jesus  Christ. 

Even  when  honoring  him  most,  the  Bible  but  gives  him 
the  place  of  a  messenger  or  herald  before  some  mightier 
Being  that  was  to  follow ;  and  that  Being  is  called  "  The 
Lord  our  God ; "  and  the  day  of  His  coming,  that  "  great 
and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord."  And  when  the  children 
were  yet  unborn,  this  babe  leaped  in  his  mother's  womb  at 
the  salutation  of  the  Mother  of  Jesus, — leaped  for  joy; 
and  his  mother  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  she 

i  S.  Luke  i.  13-17.  2  Rid.  76-78.  8  S.  Matt.  xi.  11. 


John  the  Baptist, 


205 


spake  out  and  said :  "  Blessed  art  thou  among  women,  and 
blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb.  And  whence  is  this  to 
me,  that  the  mother  of  my  Lord  should  come  to  me  ?  " 1 
And  in  the  full  tide  of  his  popularity,  when  multitudes  had 
flocked  to  his  baptism  ;  when  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees, 
the  bigots  and  skeptics  of  that  day,  had  combined  to  do 
homage  to  him;  when  men  were  musing  in  their  minds 
whether  he  were  the  Christ  or  no :  he  cumulates  epithets 
to  humble  himself  before  Jesus.  He  is  One  mightier  than 
him;  One  that  is  preferred  before  him.  His  baptism  is  of 
water :  the  baptism  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  fire.  He  goes  before  merely  to  prepare 
the  way:  in  the  hand  of  Jesus  is  the  fan,  and  He  will 
throughly  purge  His  floor.  Mighty  as  he  is,  —  foretold, 
announced  by  an  angel  in  the  Temple,  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  from  his  mother's  womb,  —  he  is  not  worthy  to  un- 
loose the  latchet  of  the  shoes  of  Jesus ;  nay,  not  worthy  to 
bear  them  behind  Him  as  He  walks.  How  wonderful  that 
all  this  humiliation  should  have  no  effect  upon  men  to 
make  them  perceive  the  vast  distance  which  the  Bible  has 
placed  between  the  greatest  of  its  prophets  and  Jesus 
Christ  the  Lord ! 

If  we  examine  the  passages  of  the  prophets  which  pre- 
dict the  coming  of  John,  we  shall  find  that  in  them  which 
bears  strongly  upon  the  same  point,  —  the  Majesty  of  the 
Person  whom  John  was  to  precede  and  herald.  In  that  of 
Isaiah,  the  office  of  the  Baptist  is  designated  as  that  of 
one  raised  up  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord ;  for  what 
purpose?  That  "the  glory  of  the  Lord"  may  "be  re- 
vealed, and  all  flesh  "  may  "  see  it  together."  What  is  this 
glory  of  the  Lord  ? 

To  us  this  term  "  Glory  of  the  Lord  "  may  mean  any 
thing;  but  to  the  Jews,  to  whom  Isaiah  was  writing,  it  was 
t  S.  Luke  i.  42,  43. 


206  John  the  Baptist. 

not  so.  In  connection  with  His  place  of  worship,  it  could 
have  but  one  meaning,  —  the  meaning  that  had  been  af- 
fixed to  it  under  the  Tabernacle  and  the  first  Temple. 
When  Moses  had  finished  all  the  work  of  the  Tabernacle, 
and  had  set  it  up  before  the  Lord,  "  Then,"  says  the 
inspired  writer,  "  a  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  the  congre- 
gation, and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle." 1 
When  all  things  were  perfected  in  Solomon's  Temple,  and 
all  things  had  been  arranged  according  to  the  pattern  of 
the  Lord,  and  the  priests  were  come  out  of  the  Holy  place, 
then  the  cloud  filled  the  House  of  the  Lord,  so  that  the 
priests  could  not  stand  to  minister  because  of  the  cloud : 
"  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  had  filled  the  house  of  the 
Lord."  2 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  in  either  of  these  places,  who  it 
was  that  filled  those  houses  with  His  glory.  In  Exodus,  the 
context  plainly  indicates  that  it  was  the  same  Being  who 
had  appeared  to  Moses  upon  the  top  of  Sinai ;  who  had 
overthrown  Pharaoh  and  his  hosts  in  the  Red  Sea ;  who  had 
covenanted  with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob ;  who  had  set 
His  bow  in  the  cloud  for  the  comfort  of  Noah ;  who  had 
attempered  the  curse  upon  the  earth  in  the  garden  of  Eden 
with  the  promise  of  the  Seed  of  the  woman.  In  Kings, 
the  Lord  whose  glory  filled  the  House  of  the  Lord  was  thus 
addressed  by  Solomon,  just  after  the  cloud  had  filled  the 
Temple,  in  language  which  could  never  have  been  used,  un- 
der the  Theocracy,  save  to  Jehovah :  "And  Solomon  stood 
before  the  altar  of  the  Lord  in  the  presence  of  all  the  con- 
gregation of  Israel,  and  spread  forth  his  hands  towards 
heaven :  and  he  said,  Lord  God  of  Israel,  there  is  no  God 
like  thee,  in  heaven  above,  or  on  earth  beneath,  who  keep- 
est  covenant  and  mercy  with  thy  servants  that  walk  before 
thee  with  all  their  heart  But  will  God  indeed  dwell 

1  Exod.  xl.  34.  2  1  Kings  viii.  10,  11. 


John  the  Baptist.  207 

on  the  earth?  behold,  the  heaven  and  heaven  of  heavens 
cannot  contain  thee  ;  how  much  less  this  house  that  I  have 
builded  ?  "  1  The  term  must  be  interpreted  under  the  pro- 
phetic, as  it  was  under  the  legal  dispensation  ;  and  can 
refer,  therefore,  to  none  other  in  this  passage,  "  that  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  "  shall  be  revealed,  than  to  that  revealed 
God  who  is  everywhere  in  the  Bible  represented  as  distinct 
in  Person  from  the  concealed  God,  and  yet  identified  with 
Him  in  titles,  in  power,  in  attributes. 

Such  is  the  personage  before  whom  John  the  Baptist  was 
to  go  as  a  herald ;  before  whom  he  was  to  prepare  the  way, 
and  make  straight  the  paths.  Xo  wonder  that  before  such 
a  Being  he  should  humble  himself  even  to  the  dust. 

In  what  manner,  is  our  next  inquiry,  was  John  to  pre- 
pare the  way  of  the  Lord '?  He  himself  explains  it,  and 
thas  casts  the  clearest  light  upon  the  passages  of  the 
Prophets :  "  Repent  ye  :  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand,"  was  the  burden  of  his  preaching.  "  Bring  forth 
therefore  fruits  meet  for  repentance  ;  93  for  "  now  also  the 
ax  is  laid  unto  the  root  of  the  trees."2  Repentance,  for 
their  sins  personal  and  national,  was  what  was  necessary  on 
the  part  of  the  Jews,  to  precede  faith  in  their  coming  Mes- 
siah, —  in  the  establishment  of  that  Church  of  the  Gospel 
which  is  called,  in  the  New  Testament,  "  The  Kingdom  of 
Heaven." 

The  same  call,  my  beloved  hearers,  is  that  which  the 
ministers  and  stewards  of  the  Gospel  make  upon  you  now, 
in  reference  to  the  approaching  Advent  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  human  flesh.  Every  year,  as  it  rolls  its  course, 
does  the  Church  bring  before  us,  in  her  seasons,  the  great 
events  which  together  worked  out  our  redemption  ;  and 
just  now  does  she  call  upon  us  to  contemplate  the  Xativity 
of  our  Lord  as  the  first  manifestation  of  that  "  grace  which 

1  1  Kings  yiii.  22,  23,  27.  2  S.  Matt.  iii.  8,  10. 


208  John  the  Baptist. 

bringeth  salvation."  In  view  of  its  near  approach  do  I  say 
unto  you,  as  John  said  unto  the  Jews,  "  Repent  ye,  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 

Repentance  prepares  us  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord,  be- 
cause it  makes  us  dissatisfied  with  our  own  righteousness, 
and  drives  us  to  look  out  of  ourselves  for  some  justification 
before  God.  And  this  is  evidently  the  meaning  of  John  the 
Baptist,  when  he  tells  those  who  came  out  to  his  Baptism  : 
"  Think  not  to  say  within  yourselves,  We  have  Abraham  to 
our  father."  Think  no  longer  to  place  your  justification  in 
your  national  election,  u  for  now  also  the  ax  is  laid  unto  the 
root  of  the  trees,"  and  every  individual  "  which  bringeth 
not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down,  and  cast  into  the  fire." 
And  this  is  the  great  object  and  end  of  preaching,  —  to  dis- 
satisfy you  with  your  own  righteousness  ;  to  make  you  see 
it  as  God  sees  it ;  to  tear  you  from  every  other  refuge  as  a 
mere  refuge  of  lies,  that  you  may  take  hold  of  Christ  as 
The  Lord  your  Righteousness.  So  long  as  man  can  find 
any  thing  to  rest  upon  out  of  Christ,  so  long  will  he  remain 
out  of  Christ :  for  such  is  his  nature  since  the  Fall,  that  he 
will  believe  any  absurdity  which  demands  not  faith,  rather 
than  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  when  it  has 
to  be  received  through  faith.  Repentance  is  the  great 
theme  of  the  Apostolic  preaching.  "  Repent "  begins  al- 
most all  their  sermons.  "  Repent  "  precedes  every  direc- 
tion which  they  give  to  the  inquiring  crowds.  "  Repent  " 
opens  the  door  to  Baptism,  to  Church  membership,  to  a 
participation  in  the  Supper  of  the  Lord.  "  Repent  ye, 
therefore,"  my  hearers ;  and  for  this  reason  especially, 
because  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  Once  again 
is  Jesus  Christ  brought  before  you  by  the  Church,  and  the 
mighty  claims  which  He  has  upon  your  love  and  your  devo- 
tion are  presented  to  you.  He  is  about  to  be  manifested  to 
you  in  that  low  estate  which  He  put  on  for  your  sakes, 


John  the  Baptist.  209 

when,  "  being  in  the  form  of  God/'  and  thinking  "  it  not 
robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  :  "  He  yet  "  made  himself  of 
no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  serv  ant, 
and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men."  1  He  is  about  to 
act  out  before  you  that  career  of  love  and  mercy  which  had 
its  consummation  in  His  becoming  "  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  death  of  the  Cross." 2  He  comes  "  to  finish  the 
transgression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make 
reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlasting 
righteousness." 3  All  this,  my  beloved  hearers,  would  not 
have  been  undertaken  for  you,  could  you  have  worked  out 
for  yourselves  any  righteousness  that  would  suffice  you  in 
the  day  of  God's  wrath  ;  —  could  you  have  found  any  refuge 
to  shield  you,  when  "judgment"  should  be  laid  "to  the 
line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet."  4  "  Repent  ye  :  " 
pray  the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  office  it  is,  to  convince  you  of 
sin,  and  to  give  you  that  view  of  your  own  righteousness, 
which  shall  make  you  cry  in  anguish  of  spirit,  "  What  shall 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  It  is  an  awful  sight  to  see  a  human 
creature  resting  in  a  righteousness  which  the  Bible  calls 
"  filthy  rags  ;  "  which  the  holiest  men  of  old  abjured  as 
utterly  insufficient  for  their  necessities :  when  there  is  a 
perfect  Righteousness,  wrought  out  for  him  by  Christ, 
which  can  be  his  when  he  may  be  made  to  see  his  own  sin- 
fulness and  the  glorious  sufficiency  of  Christ.  0  fellow- 
Christians,  in  view  of  this  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  let  us  unitedly  beseech  the  God  of  love  to  pour 
down  upon  His  Church  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplica- 
tion, that  the  unbelieving  may  look  upon  Him  whom  they 
have  pierced,  and  may  mourn  for  Him  as  one  mourneth  for 
his  only  son,  and  may  be  in  bitterness  for  Him  as  one  that 
is  in  bitterness  for  his  first  born.  "  Repent  ye,"  all  that 
profess  not  the  Name  of  the  Lord,  for  the  prophet  calls  it 

1  Phil.  ii.  6,  7.         2  Ibid.  8.         3  Dan.  ix.  24.         4  Isaiah  xxxviii.  17. 
14 


210  John  the  Baptist. 

"  that  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord  ; 99  —  great  and 
dreadful  indeed,  for  it  aggravates  sin  with  the  rejection  of 
mercy,  and  brings  down  upon  the  impenitent  the  additional 
condemnation  of  having  trampled  under  foot  the  Blood  of 
the  son  of  God,  and  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  His  grace. 

"  Repent  ye  :  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 
What  a  call  to  you,  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ  9 
Hear  the  words  of  Malachi :  "  Behold,  I  will  send  my  mes- 
senger, and  he  shall  prepare  the  way  before  me :  and  the 
Lord,  whom  ye  seek,  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple, 
even  the  messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in  : 
behold,  he  shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  But  who 
may  abide  the  day  of  his  coming?  and  who  shall  stand 
when  he  appeareth  ?  for  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like 
fuller's  sope  :  and  he  shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of 
silver  :  and  he  shall  purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  purge  them 
as  gold  and  silver,  that  they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an 
offering  in  righteousness."  Are  you  ready,  my  hearers, 
for  this  Lord  ?  Are  you  prepared  for  the  refiner's  fire  ? 
This  Lord  will  come  near  to  you  to  judgment,  and  will  be  a 
swift  witness  against  all  iniquity.  How  can  you  stand 
when  He  appeareth  ?  Search  and  examine  yourselves,  ere  it 
be  too  late,  and  see  that  you  are  in  the  faith.  Prove  your 
own  selves !  If  you  will  not,  God  must  prove  you :  and 
even  though  you  stand  in  the  day  of  His  appearing,  be- 
lieve me  that  the  trial  of  your  faith,  if  you  put  Him  upon  it 
in  this  world,  will  be  like  passing  through  the  fire;  and 
the  dross  which  shall  be  burnt  away  will  be  like  the  tearing 
asunder  of  soul  and  body.  When  Christ  sits  as  a  refiner  and 
purifier,  He  will  not  leave  His  work  until  He  shall  see  His 
own  image  reflected  in  you.  Refine  yourselves  at  once, 
therefore,  lest  He  come  upon  you,  and  judgment  be  laid  to 
the  line.  Humble  yourselves  at  once  before  His  awful  ap- 
pearing, and  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance. 


John  the  Baptist,  2 1 1 

My  beloved  hearers,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand. 
Oh,  in  how  many  senses  !  It  is  at  hand,  in  that  the  Gospel 
circle  is  once  again  begun  to  be  run  in  the  Church.  It  is 
at  hand,  in  that  the  means  of  grace  are  all  around  you, 
freely  offered,  freely  dispensed.  It  is  at  hand,  in  that  the 
Second  Coming  of  our  Lord  is  nearer  than  when  ye  be- 
lieved. It  is  at  hand,  in  that  Death,  which  terminates  our 
probation,  is  overhanging  us  at  every  moment.  Under 
each  and  every  one  of  these  aspects,  the  cry  is  the  same  : 
"  Kepent  ye."  Despise  not  the  voice  of  warning,  lest  the 
Lord  come  upon  you  suddenly,  like  a  thief  in  the  night, 
and  ye  find  no  place  for  repentance,  though  ye  seek  it  care- 
fully, and  with  tears. 

1865. 


0 


As  sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing.  —  2  Cor.  vi.  10. 
T  first  glance,  this  sentence  appears  to  involve  a  con- 


v tradiction ;  but  the  longer  we  think  of  it,  the  more 
will  it  strike  us  as  describing  very  faithfully  man's  condi- 
tion while  on  his  march  to  the  Holy  Land  of  Promise  and 
of  Peace.  Sorrow  for  the  present,  but  joy  coming  in  the 
morning ;  weariness  as  we  tread  the  thorny  road,  but  rest 
awaiting  us  at  its  close  ;  tears  spriukling  our  path,  but  our 
God  ready,  when  our  work  is  done,  to  wipe  away  tears  from 
off  all  faces ;  darkness  embarrassing  us,  hindering  us,  put- 
ting us  out  of  the  way,  but  light,  light  from  heaven,  shin- 
ing more  and  more  brightly  as  we  fix  our  eyes  upon  the 
Cross.  It  is  the  true  picture  of  life  as  sin  has  made  it,  — 
sin  limited  and  restrained  by  the  power  of  Man's  divine 
Champion.  And  we  are  assembled  to-day  to  commemorate 
the  birth  of  Him,  who  has  hindered  life  from  being  all  sor- 
row, all  weariness,  all  tears,  all  darkness !  It  is  the  true 
festival  of  the  heart  and  of  the  affections,  for  it  awakens 
every  thing  to  love  and  joy,  and  then  makes  that  love  and 
joy  undying.  It  rises  above  all  affliction ;  and  for  the  time, 
so  long  as  we  can  keep  sense  and  memory  subject  to  faith,  it 
places  earth  with  its  temporary  trials  and  sorrows  at  their 
true  value.  Every  thing  rejoices  at  its  coming  :  from  the 
angels  in  Heaven  who  sing  the  song  of  "  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,"  to  the  trees  of  the  field  which  come  in  hither 
to  clap  their  hands  before  the  Lord.  Every  thing  rejoices, 
and  ought  to  rejoice,  for  it  celebrates  the  reunion  of  man 


Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing.  213 

and  God,  of  earth  and  Heaven,  of  the  soul  with  that  divine 
Fountain  whence  it  sprang  when  Jehovah  breathed  into  it 
the  breath  of  life. 

And  what  a  rich  blessing  it  is,  my  beloved  people,  that 
there  should  be  in  a  world  like  this  something  to  break  the 
sad  monotony  of  life ;  something  to  relieve  the  mind  from 
the  continued  contemplation  of  trouble,  of  sorrow,  of  sick- 
ness, of  death ;  to  separate  us  from  the  necessary  work  of 
life ;  to  remove  us  from  the  pressure  of  carking  care,  from 
the  degrading  influence  of  worldly  strife,  from  the  deterio- 
rating effects  of  selfishness  and  avarice.  What  a  rich  bless- 
ing to  find  a  centre  of  love,  around  which  should  be  gath- 
ered, if  only  for  a  little  while,  the  kindliest  sympathies  of 
human  nature, —  a  fountain  of  real  joy  sending  its  refresh- 
ing waters  to  cheer  the  weary  path  of  the  mourner,  and 
trickling  through  all  the  by-ways  of  the  world,  seeking 
out  the  children  of  want  and  poverty,  and  creating  green 
spots  even  in  a  desert.  It  is  hard  to  estimate  the  value  of 
such  a  season  in  its  humanizing  and  softening  tendencies. 
How  many  elements  have  to  be  combined,  ere  we  can  ap- 
preciate the  festival  we  are  keeping,  even  under  this  aspect. 
We  should  be  obliged  to  unlock  all  the  secret  doors  of  sor- 
row and  of  shame,  all  the  private  recesses  of  affection  and 
delight,  and  combine  them,  ere  we  could  understand  how 
the  joys  of  this  season  pervade  the  whole  frame-work  of 
society.  The  chamber  of  the  sick  is  lightened  by  its  com- 
ing. The  humble  abode  of  poverty  is  cheered  as  this  sun 
rises  upon  it.  The  thousand  firesides  of  the  land  are  full 
of  words  of  affection  and  the  merry  laugh  of  childhood. 
The  whole  Christian  world  rises  up  and  calls  Him  blessed, 
who  has  come  upon  this  mission  of  love,  and  has  humbled 
Himself  to  lowliness,  and  to  sorrow,  and  to  suffering,  that 
the  children  of  sin  and  death  may  have  rejoicing  mingled 
with  their  sorrowing. 


214  Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing. 

The  coming  of  this  Son  of  God  in  human  form  has  been 
the  burden  of  hope  from  the  beginning  of  the  world. 
From  that  moment  when  the  promise  fell  upon  the  ear  of 
guilt  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  "  The  seed  of  the  woman 
shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head,"  until  the  morning  when 
the  herald  angels  sang  the  song  of  His  Birth,  has  every 
thing  been  overruled  for  His  Advent.  Upon  every  thing 
else  in  the  world  were  change  and  decay  permitted  to  place 
their  hand  of  destruction,  save  upon  this  promise.  This 
ever  waxed  stronger  and  brighter,  even  amid  wreck  and 
ruin ;  and  was  the  rainbow  that  encircled  the  darkness. 
Whatever  else  was  overturned,  this  stood  immovable,  the 
corner-stone  laid  in  Sion.  When  a  single  family  enshrined 
the  promise,  that  family  was  watched  and  guarded  by 
Heaven:  for  in  its  bosom  was  the  Word  of  God  and  the 
Hope  of  the  World.  When  that  Family  swelled  into  a  na- 
tion, God  Himself  became  its  King,  and  guarded  it  as  the 
apple  of  an  eye,  leading  it  like  a  flock  and  protecting  it 
under  the  shadow  of  His  wing !  When  that  nation  sor- 
rowed in  captivity  by  the  waters  of  Babylon,  God  heard  the 
cry  of  the  people  of  whom,  according  to  the  flesh,  His  Son 
should  come  :  and  led  them  back,  with  songs  and  rejoicing, 
to  their  own  land  of  promise.  All  the  mightiest  monarch- 
ies of  the  world  —  Egypt,  Assyria,  Babylon,  Macedonia, 
Rome  —  raged  in  their  madness  around  the  future  birth- 
place of  this  promised  Seed  :  but  each,  in  its  turn,  was  made 
to  feel  that  a  mightier  power  than  itself  had  placed  a  curb 
upon  its  fury,  and  had  uttered  the  decree,  "  Hitherto  shalt 
thou  come,  but  no  further."  1  It  was  not  until  this  promise 
was  fulfilled  at  Bethlehem,  —  until  the  Seed  of  the  woman 
was  incarnate,  —  that  the  reins  were  thrown  upon  the  neck 
of  these  executioners  of  the  Lord,  and  they  were  permitted 
to  make  the  Holy  Land  a  desolation,  to  raze  the  Temple  to 

1  Job  xxxviii.  11. 


Sorrowful^  yet  alway  Rejoicing.  215 

its  foundation,  and  scatter  God's  people  over  the  face  of  the 
earth.  How  firmly  does  this  adherence  to  His  promise 
prove  for  us  the  truth  of  God !  How  immovably  does  it 
establish  the  future  upon  the  basis  of  the  past !  When  we 
follow  this  promise,  struggling  to  its  fulfillment  through 
four  thousand  years  of  clouds  and  darkness,  can  we  doubt 
but  that  all  the  promises  of  God  are  "  Yea  and  Amen  "  in 
Christ  Jesus  ? 

The  life  of  Jesus  was  an  example  of  the  life  which  is 
shadowed  forth  in  my  text.  He  was  a  Man  of  sorrows  and 
acquainted  with  grief,  yet  had  He  within  Himself  a  well- 
spring  of  joy,  which  carried  Him  unmurmuring  through  all 
He  had  to  bear  with  for  us.  He  was  sorrowing,  yet  always 
rejoicing :  sorrowing  for  man,  sorrowing  under  the  burden 
of  sin  which  He  was  bearing,  sorrowing  in  view  of  the  suf- 
ferings He  was  called  to  pass  through ;  yet  rejoicing  for 
the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  and  for  the  glory  which 
was  evermore  to  encircle  His  Xaine.  He  was  poor,  and  had 
not  where  to  lay  His  head :  yet  He  rejoiced !  He  was 
tempted  in  the  lonely  wilderness,  and  had  to  bear  the  pol- 
luting approach  of  Satan  :  yet  He  rejoiced !  He  was  scorned 
and  despised  :  yet  He  rejoiced  !  He  was  persecuted  and  for- 
saken :  yet  He  rejoiced  !  He  was  made  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  death  of  the  Cross  :  yet  He  rejoiced  !  He  exhib- 
ited to  us  the  double  life  which  it  is  intended  for  us  to  lead 
on  earth ;  —  the  outer  life  by  which  we  touch  the  world  and 
the  things  of  the  world,  in  which  we  are  called  upon  to 
bear  and  suffer  and  mourn,  through  which  we  are  to  work 
out  in  the  strength  of  Christ  our  salvation  :  and  the  inner 
life,  by  which  we  touch  God  and  heavenly  things,  in  which 
we  are  to  reap  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  joy,  peace,  love  ;  and 
through  which  we  are  to  receive  the  adoption  of  sous  of  God 
and  the  glorious  inheritance  of  His  eternal  kingdom.  This 
double  life,  if  we  are  Christians,  we  must  all  lead.    There  i& 


216  Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing. 

no  escaping  it.  Our  joy,  whatever  it  is,  must  go  along 
with  sorrow  :  our  sorrow,  whatever  it  is,  must  be  borne  in 
a  spirit  of  rejoicing.  We  cannot  separate  them ;  and 
therefore  does  the  Apostle  enjoin  upon  us,  to  act  heartily 
up  to  what  is  allotted  to  us.  Any  other  life  will  prove  to  be 
a  forced  life,  and  will  turn  out  to  be  an  abortion  —  a  life  of 
misery  to  ourselves,  of  hypocrisy  to  the  world.  To  be  truly 
Christian ;  to  move  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  with  the 
mind  of  Christ,  we  must  follow  His  footsteps  whether  in 
sorrow  or  in  joy.  We  must  live  in  the  world  as  not  of  the 
world ;  bearing  whatever  is  laid  upon  us,  as  though  it  was 
only  by  the  way,  and  had  but  little  to  do  —  save  in  the  way 
of  discipline  —  with  the  real  purpose  and  end  of  our  exist- 
ence. 

When  we  take  the  true  view  of  life,  —  and  this  festival 
really  exhibits  it  to  us,  — I  do  not  see  why  we  should  not  be 
always  rejoicing  even  though  for  the  present  we  go  on  sor- 
rowing. In  an  elaborate  and  complicated  piece  of  machin- 
ery, there  is  a  principle  which  pervades  the  whole  structure, 
and  regulates  its  action  and  its  use.  In  a  musical  composi- 
tion, there  is  a  key-note  upon  which  depends  all  the  har- 
mony, and  without  attention  to  which  all  is  discord  and 
confusion.  Well,  Life  has  likewise  its  principle,  which 
regulates  it ;  its  key-note  which  gives  it  its  harmony :  and 
unless  we  attend  to  these,  it  will  be  like  jangling  bells, 
ringing  noisily  upon  the  ear,  yet  breathing  no  music  either 
for  use  or  delight.  The  divine  object  of  life  —  our  eternal 
future  —  must  be  kept  in  view  ;  or  else  we  shall  not  be  able 
to  understand  fully  the  meaning  of  the  Apostle  when  he 
says,  "As  sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing:"  and  what  is 
worse,  we  should  not  comprehend  the  life  of  Christ,  into 
which  we  are  to  grow,  which  was  the  foreshadowing  of  this 
injunction.  It  was  not  this  life  of  sin  and  sorrow  that  our 
Lord  rejoiced  in  :  it  was  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him. 


Sorrowful)  yet  alway  Rejoicing,  217 

And  so  with  us.  The  true  key-note  of  our  life  is  that  glory 
which  is  laid  up  for  us  in  Christ,  and  through  Christ ;  — 
that  crown  which  is  to  encircle  our  brow,  when  we  shall 
have  triumphed  over  our  spiritual  enemies.  This  should  rule 
over  every  thing :  over  our  sorrows,  over  our  troubles,  over 
our  temptations,  over  sickness  and  death,  over  corruption 
and  the  grave  !  —  should  be  a  bow  of  promise  ever  span- 
ning the  clouds  and  the  storm,  a  thing  of  beauty  and  of 
joy,  even  though  it  be  made  up  of  light  and  tears.  Does 
not  any  prospect  of  earthly  bliss  —  future  but  sure  —  fill 
the  heart  with  joy,  and  sustain  it  through  toil  and  weari- 
ness and  suffering  P  Are  we  not  all  borne  up  in  life  by 
some  hope  that  is  before  us,  —  some  secret,  hoarded  bliss, 
which  goes  along  with  us,  and  clothes  with  sunshine  the 
rugged  path  which  we  are  appointed  to  tread  ?  Every  indi- 
vidual has  this  sustaining  though  secret  joy;  and  none 
can  have  it  so  surely  and  so  brightly  as  the  Christian.  He 
has  a  right  to  rejoice  at  all  times,  to  keep  a  perpetual  fes- 
tival in  his  heart,  to  make  a  Christmas  of  his  whole  life  : 
for  Christ,  to  him,  has  not  only  been  born  in  Bethlehem, 
but  born  within  him ;  has  not  only  lived  and  died  for  him, 
but  is  making  his  body  a  living  temple,  and  dwelling  there 
by  His  Holy  Spirit  —  the  Spirit  of  peace  and  joy  !  If  he  is 
faithful  to  himself  he  can  never  be  without  joy  :  for  deep 
down  in  his  heart  is  there  a  fountain  always  gushing,  of 
which  nothing  can  deprive  him  but  sinfulness  and  faith- 
lessness. "  Holding  faith  and  a  good  conscience,"  he  can 
move  forward  in  a  spirit  of  rejoicing,  however  troubled  he 
may  be  in  the  flesh.  Xo  stranger  can  intermeddle  with  his 
joy  :  for  it  is  hidden  from  all  but  God,  who  gives  it  the  full 
warrant  of  His  inspired  Word. 

And  yet  the  sorrow  of  the  world  does  press  upon  even 
the  most  faithful  of  us,  and  does  often  turn  us  aside  from 
the  rejoicing  which  really  belongs  to  us.    Nature  leans  one 


2i 8  Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing. 

way  :  Inspiration  directs  us  another  way.  Flesh  and  Blood 
would  dwell  in  the  low  valleys  of  despondency  and  depres- 
sion :  Faith  summons  us  to  the  mountain -tops  which  look 
out  upon  the  unclouded  skies,  and  bids  us  rejoice  in  spirit 
and  in  hope.  How  shall  heavy  hearts  and  anxious  spirits 
be  made  to  lighten  themselves  of  their  burdens,  and  to 
obey  the  injunction  of  the  inspired  Apostle  ?  In  whom 
shall  sorrow  and  joy  be  harmonized  ? 

My  answer  is,  "  In  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  And  the 
error  which  pervades  the  reasoning  of  the  world,  and  which 
creeps  in  upon  the  Church,  arises  from  a  want  of  proper 
discrimination  between  the  joy  of  the  world  and  the  holy 
joy  of  Christian  belief.  There  is  a  rude  vulgar  mirth  which 
the  world  dignifies  with  the  name  of  "  rejoicing ; "  and 
there  is  a  Christian  grace  which  the  Apostle  entitles  "  re- 
joicing in  the  Lord."  These  two  species  of  joy  differ  from 
each  other  in  every  particular,  —  in  their  origin,  in  their 
occasions,  in  their  nature,  in  their  ends.  The  one  is  born 
of  the  flesh,  and  is  antagonistic  of  the  other  which  comes 
directly  from  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  one  arises  out  of 
those  gratifications  of  sense  or  of  interest  which  absorb  so 
much  our  feelings  and  our  affections ;  the  other  springs 
out  of  considerations  connected  with  Christ's  future  domin- 
ion. The  one  is  dependent  upon  prosperity  for  its  exist- 
ence ;  the  other  brightens  and  flashes  just  when  clouds 
and  darkness  lower  upon  us,  and  is  like  the  lightning,  the 
more  vivid  because  of  the  darkness  out  of  which  it  seems 
to  dart.  The  one  has  its  consummation  in  the  very  mo- 
ment of  its  production ;  the  other  awaits  in  patience  the 
time  when  it  shall  flourish  in  eternal  peace.  To  be  "  sor- 
rowful, yet  alway  rejoicing  "  the  Apostle  did  not  believe  to 
be  possible  for  the  world,  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  world  : 
but  to  be  "  sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing  "  in  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  was  his  daily  practice,  and  his  exceeding  great 


Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing,  219 

reward.  And  what  he  had  learned  from  his  own  wide  ex- 
perience, he  exhorts  us  to  learn  who  may  be  called  to  wade, 
like  himself,  through  a  sea  of  trouble  and  of  woe.  "  For 
whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every 
son  whom  he  receiveth."  1 

And  how  much  we  have  to  rejoice  in,  my  beloved  hear- 
ers, even  though  we  be  sorrowful !  We  can  rejoice,  because 
we  know  that  the  world  has  not  been  left  to  itself  to  stag- 
ger on  in  its  sinfulness  and  misrule,  but  has  been  given  to 
Christ  for  His  possession.  "  The  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth,"  2  —  reigneth  over  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  and  He  has  promised  to  set  His  Son  upon  His  holy 
hill  of  Zion.  The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fullness 
thereof ;  and  He  ordereth  all  things  according  to  the  pur- 
poses of  His  will.  For  this  we  can  rejoice,  no  matter  how 
troubled  the  world  may  be.  "  I  will  overturn,  overturn, 
overturn  it :  and  it  shall  be  no  more,  until  He  come  whose 
right  it  is,  and  I  will  give  it  him,"  3  is  the  decree  of.  God  : 
and  the  Christian,  however  sorrowing,  may  rejoice,  that 
every  thing  is  working  together  to  bring  in  the  kingdom 
of  righteousness,  and  to  place  Christ,  as  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords,  over  every  thing  in  Heaven  and  in  earth. 
The  wrath  of  man  is  altogether  under  the  control  of  Him 
whose  incarnation  we  are  celebrating,  and  it  cannot  hurt 
one  hair  of  our  heads  without  His  permission.  And  in  His 
hands  do  we  rejoice  to  leave  all  things,  and  to  trust  in  Him 
for  the  future,  as  we  have  for  the  past.  In  the  midst  of 
the  sorrow  of  the  world,  we  can  be  ever  rejoicing  :  because 
we  know  that  the  Lord  maketh  every  thing  work  together 
for  good  to  them  that  love  Him.  Sorrow,  sickness,  suffer- 
ing, death,  striking  us  in  the  current  and  rush  of  life,  are 
made  to  work,  together  with  its  events,  for  good.  The  ex- 
pression is  a  very  striking  one,  and  conveys  the  idea  of 

1  Heb.  xii.  6.  2  Rev.  xix.  6.  8  Ezek.  xxi.  27. 


220  Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing. 

many  threads  interlacing  and  forming  the  web  of  a  text- 
ure ;  of  many  rays  converging  and  constituting  a  star  of 
promise  and  of  hope.  The  single  thread  we  often  cannot 
see  the  purpose  of ;  the  single  ray  gives  no  positive  light 
amid  the  darkness  :  and  in  the  same  way  any  particular 
act  of  God's  providence  may  lack  its  meaning  even  to  the 
eye  of  Faith.  But  when  these  single  threads  are  woven 
together  by  a  skillful  hand,  they  form  a  pattern  of  order  and 
of  beauty :  and  when  these  single  rays  are  converged  by  the 
unerring  law  of  Nature,  they  become  a  centre  of  light  and 
of  glory.  So  these  movements  of  God's  providence,  which, 
as  single  acts,  seem  mysterious  and  severe,  change  into 
mercy  and  blessing  when  His  all-wise  hand  shall  have  ar- 
ranged them  in  their  proper  places,  and  united  them  with 
others  which  are  their  complement  and  harmony.  "  Work 
together  for  good ; "  —  not  work  singly  for  good,  but  to- 
gether :  teaching  us  never  to  judge  hastily  or  rashly,  never 
to  murmur  inconsiderately,  but  to  wait  patiently ;  and, 
while  waiting,  to  rejoice  that,  in  the  darkness  and  misery  by 
which  we  are  encompassed  in  this  world,  our  Lord  is  con- 
trolling all  things,  and  is  holding  in  His  hands  the  innu- 
merable threads  of  our  complicate  Being,  and  is  working 
them  up  together  for  good  to  those  who  are  the  called 
according  to  His  purpose.  And  surely,  no  matter  how  fall 
of  care  and  grief  the  present  may  be,  how  inexplicable  the 
dealings  of  God  with  us :  we  may  rejoice  through  it  all, 
and  lift  our  hearts  to  Heaven,  feeling  that  nothing  can 
separate  us  from  a  love  which  could  give  its  only-begotten 
Son  for  our  redemption. 

I  trust  that  you  can  now  feel,  my  beloved  people,  that 
"although  sorrowing,  you  may  be  always  rejoicing,"  be- 
cause, while  the  sorrow  will  pass  away,  the  joy  remains,  not 
only  undying,  but  ever  increasing  in  brightness  and  cer- 
tainty !    No  sorrow,  however  acute,  however  deep,  can  ex- 


Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing.  2  2 1 

tend  beyond  this  life.  Death  cuts  it  off;  it  has  no  longer 
any  influence  over  us.  But  our  rejoicing  passes  with  us, 
through  the  grave,  because  Christ,  who  is  our  cause  of  re- 
joicing, receives  us  there  to  the  brightness  of  His  Glory. 
Our  rejoicing  here  is  by  faith,  that  the  day  of  this  humilia- 
tion will  be  soon  ended,  and  that  He  will  come  again  in 
His  glorious  Majesty  to  raise  us  to  the  life  immortal,  and 
glorify  us  with  that  glory  which  He  had  with  the  Father 
ere  the  world  was  !  Who  can  think  of  sorrow  when  such 
a  vision  rises  in  the  future  ?  Who  can  count  the  griefs  of 
this  world  to  be  of  any  moment,  when  he  remembers  that 
Christ  has  come,  and  has  sanctified  all  this  sorrow,  and 
made  it  holy  ?  When  the  angel-song  reaches  our  ears, 
"  Glory  to  the  new-born  King  !  "  what  other  strain  can 
overpower  it  ?  It  swells  from  earth  to  Heaven,  and  our 
hearts  rise  with  it,  and  mingle  in  the  shout  which  rings 
through  the  arches  of  the  skies  at  the  wonderful  declara- 
tion. Him  whom  these  angels  had  known  in  the  Bosom 
of  His  Father,  whose  brightness  they  could  not  look  upon, 
before  whose  presence  they  were  compelled  to  hide  their 
faces  with  their  wings :  they  now  see  an  infant  in  His 
Mother's  bosom  !  Sublime  mystery  !  Incomprehensible 
work !  Angels  desiring  to  look  into  it ;  —  yet  all  done  for 
man.  The  universe  receiving  it  with  songs  of  triumph ;  — 
yet  all  done  for  man  !  done  for  him,  —  a  fallen,  sinful,  cor- 
rupt creature  ;  —  for  him,  a  child  of  shame  and  of  the 
curse  ;  —  for  him,  born  to  trouble  as  the  sparks  fly  up- 
ward ;  —  done  for  him,  that  he  may  be  rescued  from  all  the 
evils  of  sin,  and  all  the  penalties  of  the  curse ;  —  done  for 
him,  that  he  may  be  pardoned,  and  justified,  and  sancti- 
fied ;  —  done  for  him,  that  he  may  be  adopted  into  the 
family  of  God ;  —  done  for  him,  that  he  may  be  exalted  to 
Heaven,  and  made  a  king  and  a  priest  unto  God.  All  this 
done  for  him  :  and  yet  he  going  along  to  this  glory,  and 


222  Sorrowful,  yet  alway  Rejoicing. 

permitting1  himself  to  be  sorrowful  and  despondent,  with 
his  knees  feeble,  and  his  hands  hanging  down,  —  with  his 
eyes  fixed  upon  the  earth,  as  if  that  were  his  home  and  his 
treasure ! 

For  shame,  Christian  !  You  should  be  "  alway  rejoic- 
ing," especially  to-day  !  For  shame,  Christian  !  Your  eyes 
should  be  turned  with  joy  to  Bethlehem,  even  though  they 
be  filled  with  tears.  For  shame,  Christian  !  Lay  aside  all 
private  griefs,  all  public  sorrow,  and  sing  this  morning  with 
the  holy  angels,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on 
earth  peace,  good  will  towards  men."  And  you  should  sing 
all  through  your  life,  and  engrave  upon  your  heart  as  your 
motto  :  "  Sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing." 

1865. 


Z<mmtpftt$t  Sermon. 


And  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the 
world,  for  a  witness  unto  all  natiojis ;  and  then  shall  the  end 
come.  —  S.  Matthew  xxiv.  14. 

rflHE  Scripture  has  a  depth  of  meaning  which  is  dis- 


covered  only  by  those  who  will  compare  one  portion 
of  its  revelations  with  another  portion,  and  weave  out  of 
them  a  perfect  pattern  of  the  mind  of  God.  If  we  read 
those  divine  hooks  hastily,  or  with  preconceived  opinions, 
we  may  deduce  from  them  conclusions  diametrically  op- 
posed to  their  real  meaning,  and  a  practice  of  life  which 
will  be  contrary  to  our  highest  because  eternal  interests. 
The  mind  of  man,  when  spread  over  various  works,  it  is 
difficult  always,  at  once,  to  understand.  We  are  obliged  to 
compare  utterance  with  utterance,  and  opinion  with  opin- 
ion, and  to  elucidate  them  by  the  life  and  actions  of  the 
writer,  ere  we  can  make  out  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
writings  through  which  he  has  made  himself  known  to 
the  world.  And  if  this  be  so  with  men  of  our  own  times, 
when  speaking  upon  topics  familiar  to  us,  and  which  are 
made  clear  to  us  from  our  own  experience :  how  much 
more  difficult  must  it  be  for  us  to  take  in  correctly  the 
mind  of  God,  delivered  to  us  as  it  has  been  through  so 
many  various  authors,  and  treating  of  spiritual  matters 
not  known  to  the  natural  understanding,  and  connected 
with  a  scheme  of  grace  which  is  progressive  and  perpetu- 
ally expansive.  It  requires  great  attention,  not  great  intel- 
lect ;  much  meditation,  not  critical  study ;  a  great  deal  of 


224     Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom. 

prayer,  rather  than  a  great  deal  of  learning ;  much  personal 
experience,  more  than  the  discipline  of  the  schools.  All 
the  great  errors  of  the  Christian  world  have  come  from  the 
wise,  and  not  from  the  faithful ;  from  philosophy,  and  not 
from  experience ;  from  conclusions  drawn  from  a  priori  rea-  . 
soning,  rather  than  from  the  plain  letter  of  the  Scriptures : 
and  thus  —  like  the  more  common  opinions  which  are  met 
floating  upon  the  current  of  the  Church  —  they  are  almost 
always  found  to  have  arisen  from  a  lack  of  Scriptural 
knowledge,  —  from  a  too  narrow  induction  of  the  disclos- 
ures of  the  Sacred  Writers.  An  idea  which  is  made  prom- 
inent at  a  particular  moment  and  under  particular  circum- 
stances is  seized  upon  hy  an  ardent  mind,  and  is  advanced 
holdly  as  the  central  idea  of  the  Scriptures,  and  every 
thing  else  is  made  to  circle  around  it  and  is  tinged  with  its 
coloring.  This  has  been  the  fountain  of  all  sectarianism, 
and  will  ever  be  the  prolific  source  of  error  until  the  time 
of  the  end. 

Out  of  this  springs  the  great  value  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  with  its  Creeds,  its  Formularies,  its  Liturgy,  its 
Ordinances.  These  have  been  gathered  out  of  the  Word 
of  God  carefully,  and  through  a  long  sequence  of  Ecclesi- 
astical experience.  They  have  been  harmonized  by  com- 
paring all  portions  of  the  Sacred  Writings,  and  not  by 
grasping  one  utterance  and  making  that  the  key  to  unlock 
every  thing  else.  They  have  been  weighed,  and  proved, 
and  illustrated;  they  have  been  wet  with  the  tears  of 
repentance,  and  dyed  with  the  blood  of  martyrdom :  and 
now  they  represent,  hoary  as  they  are  with  the  marks  of 
antiquity,  the  united  consent  of  all  the  purest  ages  and  the 
holiest  men  of  the  Christian  Faith.  Upon  them,  stead- 
fast and  immovable,  may  the  mind  rest  itself,  and  the 
heart  plant  its  belief :  not  because  they  are  the  teachings 
of  the  Church,  but  because  we  are  satisfied  that  they  are 


Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  225 

« 

the  teachings  of  God's  inspired  Word,  collected,  by  the 
Apostles  and  the  holy  men  who  have  succeeded  them,  out 
of  every  book  of  that  Revelation;  and  representing,  not 
some  one  idea  of  the  Divine  economy  of  grace,  but  all  the 
ideas  in  succession  which  make  up  the  glorious  body  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Those  are  grievously  mistaken 
who  imagine  that  we  love  the  Church  because  we  receive 
from  her  new  developments  of  faith  and  practice  (that  is 
Boman  doctrine).  We  reverence  the  Church,  and  gladly 
follow  in  her  sacred  circle  of  truth  and  order,  for  the  ex- 
actly opposite  reason  :  because  she  maintains  unchanged 
and  unchangeable  the  doctrines  of  salvation  which  the 
Bible  promulges,  and  teaches  them  in  beautiful  succession 
as  the  year  rolls  round,  never  violating  the  proportion  of 
Faith,  but  presenting  in  turn  all  the  features  which  make 
Christ  the  Prophet,  the  Priest  and  the  King  of  His  elect 
people  in  earth  and  Heaven. 

One  of  the  errors  which  has  gained  currency  in  the 
Church,  although  it  has  never  advanced  to  the  dignity  of 
a  sect,  is  one  which  naturally  comes  up  at  this  season  of 
the  Church's  services,3  and  which  it  may  be  well  to  put  at 
rest  just  at  this  moment  in  our  Ecclesiastical  condition. 
The  manifestation  of  Christ  to  the  Gentiles  which  the 
Church  now  celebrates,  and  the  command  which  Christ 
gave  to  His  Apostles  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  have  given  rise,  somehow,  —  I 
I  know  not  how,  —  to  the  idea  that  the  world  is  to  be  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  ere  our  Lord  shall  come  a  second 
time  to  judgment.  And  this  impression  has  worked  evil 
both  to  the  believers  in  Christ,  and  to  those  who  have  been 
looking  about  for  grounds  of  cavil  against  Christianity. 
The  former  have  suffered  sorrow  and  despondency,  because 
they  have  not  seen  our  holy  religion  spreading  rapidly  and 

1  Epiphany. 

15 


226     Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom. 

embracing  the  whole  earth  in  its  arms  of  mercy  and  of 
hope.  The  latter  have  triumphed  over  every  discomfiture 
of  Gospel  truth,  and  have  rejoiced  whenever  the  events  of 
the  world  have  seemed  to  countervail  this  promise  of  the 
world's  entire  regeneration.  Both  have  proceeded  upon 
the  erroneous  idea  that  the  Revelation  of  God  had  declared 
any  such  truth ;  and  the  one  has  suffered  and  the  other  re- 
joiced for  no  reason  at  all,  but  because  of  a  popular  fallacy 
derived  from  Millennial  views  finding  no  real  support  in 
Scripture. 

The  influx  of  Gentiles  to  the  Church  of  Christ  was  one 
of  the  phenomena  which  were  to  mark  the  Advent  of  the 
Messiah.  It  was  the  prophetic  result  of  the  fulfillment  of 
the  work  of  Christ  upon  earth  ;  and  while  it  was  a  stum- 
bling-block to  the  Jews,  was  nevertheless  their  true  glory 
and  triumph.  That,  just  in  the  moment  of  their  seeming 
degradation,  when  the  sceptre  was  departing  from  Judah 
and  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  —  when  a  nation  of 
fierce  countenance  was  sweeping  over  them,  and  destroying 
nationality,  Temple,  Altar,  Priesthood,  and  scattering  them 
over  the  whole  earth,  —  all  nations  should  flow  unto  them, 
and  find,  amid  those  broken  shrines  and  desolated  homes  a 
spiritual  worship  before  which  their  idolatries  should  all 
vanish,  a  philosophy  so  much  purer  and  more  refined  than 
any  which  preceded  it  that  wisdom  bowed  before  it  even 
while  it  corrupted  it :  was  a  marvel  which  furnished 
evidence  for  Jesus  so  strong  that  the  Jews  have  ever  found 
it  an  unanswerable  testimony.  It  was  an  epoch  which 
Prophecy  had  foretold ;  to  which  their  sacred  writers  had 
all  pointed  with  exultation ;  which  their  own  Rabbis  had 
interpreted  and  settled  ere  the  Messiah  came.  It  explained 
numberless  obscure  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  Script- 
ures, and  developed  a  consistency  and  beauty  in  the  whole 
Gospel  scheme  which  one  cannot  perceive  without  being 


Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.  227 

ravished  at  it.  But  while  it  promised  that  the  death  of 
Christ  should  he  "  as  floods  upon  the  dry  ground,"  1  and  that 
the  offspring  of  his  work  should  "  spring  up  as  willows  hy 
the  watercourses," 2  it  did  not  promise  that  all  the  Gentiles 
should  he  converted  unto  Christ,  and  that  a  spiritual  do- 
minion should  he  acknowledged  then  or  at  any  subsequent 
time  over  the  universal  earth.  Its  extent  was  precisely 
that  which  has  been  accomplished,  —  that  multitudes  of  all 
nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people  should  flow  up  to  Mount 
Zion,  and  should  receive  instruction  from  its  fountains  of 
life.  And  our  Lord's  command  that  the  Gospel  should  be 
preached  to  every  nation  went  no  further  than  this,  and 
must  be  interpreted  by  the  text  from  which  I  preach : 
"  And  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all 
the  world,  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations ;  and  then  shall 
the  end  come." 

So  far  from  there  being  any  warrant  for  any  such  opin- 
ion in  the  writings  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  the  very 
reverse  is  clearly  taught  in  many  passages  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament ;  —  so  clearly  that  one  wonders  how  they  could 
possibly  be  overlooked.  Our  Saviour's  own  description  of 
His  second  coming  is  decisive  upon  the  point :  "  But  of 
that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  of 
Heaven,  but  my  Father  only.  But  as  the  days  of  Noe 
were,  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be.  For 
as  in  the  days  that  were  before  the  flood,  they  were  eating 
and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the 
day  that  Noe  entered  into  the  ark,  and  knew  not  until  the 
flood  came,  and  took  them  all  away :  so  shall  also  the  com- 
ing of  the  Son  of  man  be.  Then  shall  two  be  in  the  field ; 
the  one  shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left.  Two  women 
shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill ;  the  one  shall  be  taken,  and 
the  other  left.    Watch  therefore;  for  ye  know  not  what 

1  Isaiah  xliv.  3.  2  Ibid.  4. 


228     Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom. 

hour  your  Lord  doth  come."  1  All  this  is  entirely  incom- 
patible with  the  notion  of  a  converted  world  living  in  faith 
and  watchfulness ;  and  brings  strikingly  before  us  exactly 
such  a  state  of  things  as  exists  about  us  in  every  Chris- 
tian land,  —  the  godly  in  contact  with  the  ungodly,  the 
righteous  man  eating,  drinking,  working,  in  connection 
with  the  unrighteous.  Nay,  parts  of  the  Scripture  lead 
us  to  anticipate  a  very  infidel  condition  of  the  world  as  im- 
mediately preceding  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord.  Our 
Lord  Himself  asked :  "  Nevertheless,  when  the  Son  of  man 
cometh,  shall  He  find  faith  on  the  earth  ?  "  2  And  the 
Apostles  all  foreshadow  a  state  of  great  iniquity  as  preced- 
ing the  day  of  Judgment.  One  of  them  writes  :  "  This 
know  also,  that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come. 
For  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous, 
boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents,  un- 
thankful, unholy,  without  natural  affection,  truce-breakers, 
false  accusers,  incontinent,  fierce,  despisers  of  those  that 
are  good,  traitors,  heady,  high-minded,  lovers  of  pleasures 
more  than  lovers  of  God ;  having  a  form  of  godliness,  but 
denying  the  power  thereof ;  "  3  —  a  goodly  catalogue  for  a 
world  regenerated  by  the  Gospel !  Another,  in  introducing 
the  scenes  of  the  last  day,  opens  his  description  in  lan- 
guage like  this  :  "  Knowing  this  first,  that  there  shall  come 
in  the  last  days  scoffers,  walking  after  their  own  lusts,  and 
saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of  His  coining  ?  for  since  the 
fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they  were  from 

the  beginning  of  the  creation  But  the  day  of  the 

Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night ;  in  the  which  the 
Heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  ele- 
ments shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the 
works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up." 4  These  proph- 

i  S.  Matt.  xxiv.  36-42.  2  S.  Luke  xviii.  8. 

8  2  Tim.  iii.  1-5.  4  2  S.  Pet.  iii.  3,  4,  10. 


Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.  229 

ecies  might  easily  be  multiplied,  but  these  are  enough  to 
show  the  teaching  of  the  Scripture,  and  to  remove  the 
error  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  —  that  obedience  to 
the  command  of  Christ  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  is  to  result  in  any  thing  like 
an  universal  conversion  of  a  world  lyiug  iu  wickedness. 

The  question  then  naturally  comes  up:  ""What  is  to  be 
the  result  of  the  Missionary  work  ?  Why  is  the  Church  so 
earnest  in  spreading  the  Gospel,  and  why  does  she  press  it 
upon  her  children  as  their  duty,  especially  at  this  season  of 
the  year  ?  "  Very  proper  questions,  which  I  am  glad  to 
answer  :  and  the  reply  to  which  will  put  the  Missionary 
work  upon  its  true  basis,  and  will  remove  some  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  Christians  arising  out  of  the  slow  progress  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  and  the  continual  interruptions  which 
occur  from  civil  discords,  and  the  tumults  which  unsettle 
and  overturn  every  thing  from  time  to  time  in  the  history 
of  the  world. 

If  there  was  no  other  reason  why  the  Church  should  be 
earnest  and  active  in  the  cause  of  Missions  than  the  com- 
mand of  her  Lord,  that  alone  would  render  it  imperative. 
It  was  His  last  and  most  solemn  command  to  His  Apostles. 
Xay,  it  was  the  only  w&rit  which  He  gave  them  to  do.  They 
were  to  go  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  teach- 
ing them,  and  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Church  work 
which  has  grown  up  out  of  this,  and  which  too  much  ab- 
sorbs the  energy  of  Christ's  disciples,  was  merely  secondary 
to  this  command,  —  the  fruits  of  its  faithful  performance. 
The  Missionary  work  was  that  which  Christ  Himself  ar- 
ranged, and  made  obligatory  upon  the  ambassadors  whom 
He  left  behind  Him  in  the  world.  And  surely,  obedience  to 
the  arrangements  and  commands  of  her  Lord  is  the  first 
and  highest  duty  of  the  Church,  —  the  token  of  loyalty 


230     Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom, 

which  He  loves  best.  Long  ago,  God  said  :  "To  obey  is 
better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams," 1 
and  it  continues  true  to  the  end.  And  for  this  sufficient 
reason,  that  the  Head  of  the  Church  knows  what  is  her 
duty  better  than  the  members  ;  knows  His  own  plan,  knows 
His  means  ;  knows  what  will  be  most  conducive  to  the  prog- 
ress and  welfare  of  His  purposes.  The  Church  looks  to 
her  own  ease  or  dignity :  Christ  keeps  His  eye  fixed  only 
upon  the  mighty  work  which  the  Church  is  subserving 
through  all  her  arrangements.  The  Church  is  tempted 
continually  to  turn  away  from  spiritual  things,  and  to  mix 
up  herself  with  the  world  and  its  concerns :  Christ  knows 
the  world  only  as  an  enemy,  and  treats  it  accordingly.  The 
Church  is  forever  in  danger  of  keeping  her  resources  with- 
in herself,  and  using  them  for  her  own  aggrandizement : 
Christ  desires  the  Church  to  be  as  her  Lord,  humble,  active, 
working,  looking  to  the  real  point  of  the  Gospel,  and  not  to 
those  things  which  have  grown  up  out  of  its  success  and 
power.  The  command  of  Christ  is  therefore  enough  to 
guide  and  control  the  Church ;  and  where  that  is  positive, 
obedience  is  the  virtue  which  most  becomes  her,  and  Faith 
and  Grace,  which  mark  her  spiritual  condition. 

But  our  Lord  has  condescended  to  give  us  a  reason  as 
well  as  a  command.  This  Gospel  is  "  to  be  preached  in  all 
the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations."  It  is  salvation, 
but  it  is  also  to  be  condemnation.  It  is  to  be  not  only  a 
savor  of  life  unto  life,  but  of  death  unto  death.  The  com- 
mand of  Christ  must  be  carried  out,  not  only  that  the  Gos- 
pel of  this  Kingdom  should  be  freely  offered  unto  all  men, 
but  that  its  offer  might  rise  up  against  them  in  the  great 
day  of  Judgment,  and  speak  for  God  against  them.  This 
Gospel  is  glad  tidings  for  all  the  world,  and  therefore  must 
be  delivered  in  the  hearing  of  all  the  world.    Christ  is  the 

1  1  Sam.  xv.  22. 


Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.  231 

Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world ;  and 
so  He  must  be  pointed  out  to  every  nation  and  people  under 
the  heavens.  It  is  a  part  of  the  dispensation  of  Grace 
that  in  the  fullness  of  times  all  things  should  be  gathered 
together  in  Christ,  both  which  are  in  Heaven  and  which 
are  on  earth  ;  and  to  the  Church  is  assigned  the  high  duty 
of  performing  it.  What  the  result  of  the  Missionary  work 
is  to  be,  is  not  for  the  Church  to  inquire.  She  has  re- 
ceived her  Lord's  command ;  and  whether  the  preaching  of 
this  Gospel  in  all  the  world  is  to  be  only  for  a  witness  unto 
the  nations,  or,  besides  that,  is  to  be  for  salvation  to  them, 
is  no  question  for  her.  The  economy  of  the  Gospel  is  to 
be  worked  out  through  the  Church ;  and  this  is  a  part  of 
the  economy  of  the  Gospel.  Faith  must  preside  over  this 
part  of  her  work,  as  well  as  over  every  other  part.  She 
cannot  say,  "  I  will  not  send  this  Gospel  into  the  world, 
and  among  the  nations,  because  I  cannot  see  such  fruits  of 
its  preaching  as  I  think  should  follow  it : "  because  the  an- 
swer would  at  once  be  given  her  by  her  Lord :  "  The  preach- 
ing of  this  Gospel  is  not  always  that  it  may  produce  such 
fruits  as  you  look  for.  It  is  sometimes  sent  that  it  may  be 
only  a  witness  unto  all  nations."  The  Church  must  enter 
into  the  whole  mind  of  Christ,  and  must  consider  His  pur- 
pose in  sending  a  Gospel.  "  Many  be  called,"  said  our 
Lord,  "  but  few  chosen."  1  Many  are  called  in  Christian 
countries  ;  but  alas,  how  few  are  chosen  !  Many  are  called 
in  our  cities,  and  towns,  and  villages ;  yet  how  few  are 
chosen !  Many  are  called  in  our  congregations ;  but  ye 
yourselves  can  witness,  how  few  are  chosen !  And  why 
should  it  be  any  different  among  nations  ?  Why  should 
the  Church  expect  that  multitudes  should  at  once  flock  to 
her  fold  from  among  creatures  who  have  had  no  Christian 
teaching  and  training,  whose  habits  of  thought,  of  feel- 
1  S.  Matt.  xx.  16. 


232     Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom. 

ing,  of  action,  are  all  alien  from  Christianity?  Among1 
nations  the  same  rule  holds  :  "  Many  he  called,  hut  few 
chosen."  Nevertheless,  this  Gospel  must  he  preached  as  a 
witness,  —  must  he  sent  among  all  nations,  that  they  may 
know  the  offer  of  mercy  which  God  has  made  them  accord- 
ing to  the  purpose  of  His  will,  and  may  accept  or  reject 
it.  Christian  hearts  need  not  he  distressed  when  they  see 
the  Missionary  work  in  which  they  have  heen  earnestly  en- 
gaged, and  in  which  they  have  delighted,  interrupted  or 
even  broken  up.  As  human  creatures,  where  hopes  have 
heen  disappointed  they  may  feel  the  pangs  of  natural  sor- 
row; hut  as  Christians,  looking  to  the  great  end  and  purpose 
of  the  Gospel,  they  have  no  reason  to  he  despondent.  The 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  has  heen  preached,  at  least  as  a 
witness :  and  if  God  means  it  for  no  more,  He  knows  best. 
The  conversion  of  the  world  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
end  of  the  world.  They  stand  apart  and  distinct.  The  end 
will  come,  not  in  the  midst  of  faith,  hut  in  the  midst  of 
infidelity  ;  not  when  men  are  sober  and  watchful,  but  when 
they  are  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in 
marriage.  The  success  of  Missions  is  never  that  at  which 
the  Church  should  look.  It  should  rejoice  when  Christ  ap- 
pears to  have  many  people  in  such  and  such  a  land  ;  but  it 
should  never  measure  its  work  by  its  results.  The  Gospel 
which  has  been  sent  and  preached,  —  preached  through 
the  Bible,  preached  through  the  living  voice,  preached 
through  martyrdom,  —  may  appear  to  have  accomplished 
nothing.  Grieve  not !  it  has  done  its  work  —  it  has  been  a 
witness,  and  therefore  has  not  returned  void.  It  has  done 
that  whereto  Christ  sent  it.  The  Church  is  guilty,  only 
when  she  does  not  send  it,  —  only  when,  wrapped  up  in 
indifference  and  lukewarmness,  she  will  not  obey  the  com- 
mand of  her  Lord,  because  He  will  not  permit  her  to  live 
by  sight.    This  is  her  guilt,  —  disobedience.    Want  of  sue- 


Preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.  233 

cess,  interruption  through  the  civil  convulsions  of  the 
world,  disturbance  through  the  breaking  up  of  Ecclesiasti- 
cal unions  :  are  all  with  the  Lord.  She  must  bow  in  sub- 
mission to  them,  and  be  ready,  at  any  moment  that  oppor- 
tunity may  offer,  to  resume  her  labors.  She  must  witness, 
even  though  she  do  it  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  She  must 
send  the  Gospel,  even  though  it  be  for  condemnation.  It 
is  not  for  her  to  undertake  to  fathom  the  ways  of  God,  for 
they  are  past  her  finding  out.  She  must  fulfill  her  work  in 
silence  and  in  awe,  trusting  to  the  wisdom  of  her  Lord,  and 
remembering  that  of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him, 
are  all  things  :  to  whom  be  glory  forever.  Amen. 

1866. 


Ctoent^jseconD  pennon 


And  these  are  they  which  are  sown  among  thorns  ;  such  as  hear 
the  word,  and  the  cares  of  this  world,  and  the  deceitfulness  of  riches, 
and  the  lusts  of  other  things  entering  in,  choke  the  word,  and  it  be- 
cometh  unfruitful.  —  S.  Mark  iv.  18,  19. 

f\F  the  three  classes  of  unfruitful  hearers  exhibited  in 
this  parable  by  our  Saviour,  the  position  of  this  third 
class  has  always  seemed  to  me  the  most  perilous  and  the 
most  to  be  deplored.  The  first  class  is  careless  and  indif- 
ferent, and  therefore  has  the  seed  snatched  away  that  was 
sown  in  the  heart :  but  carelessness  or  indifference  may  be 
cured.  The  second  class  is  offended  because  of  the  word, 
and  with  something  like  indignation  casts  it  away :  but 
then  they  understand  precisely  the  position  of  defiance 
which  they  occupy.  This  third  class,  however,  does  not 
acknowledge  indifference,  nor  consent  to  occupy  the  stand- 
point of  defiance  ;  but  they  suppose  that  the  seed  which 
has  been  sown  in  their  heart  is  doing  quite  well,  and  will 
in  good  time  bring  forth  its  proper  fruit.  It  is  a  case  of 
dreadful  self-deception,  which  is  unconsciously  sweeping  its 
victims  to  inevitable  yet  unnoticed  destruction.  The  seed 
sown  in  a  heart  of  this  class,  has  not  been  snatched  away ; 
neither  has  the  plant  which  that  seed  produced  withered 
away :  but  a  constant,  silent  process  of  emasculation  is 
going  on  upon  a  rooted  plant  and  a  growing  blade,  which 
does  not  destroy  it,  but  only  renders  it  unfruitful.  The 
evil  in  the  first  two  cases  is  seen  at  once,  and  may  possibly 
be  remedied :  the  evil  in  this  last  case  is  not  discovered 


The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns.  235 

until  we  come  to  the  harvest,  and  we  find  that  the  thorns 
have  choked  the  good  seed,  and  have  prevented  the  grain 
from  filling,  and  from  producing  fruit.  Nothing  worse  is 
said  of  this  seed  than  that  it  is  "  unfruitful." 

The  hearers  included  under  this  class  are  not  those  only 
by  whom  no  profession  of  religion  has  been  made,  but  com- 
prise likewise  that  large  body  of  Church  communicants 
whose  piety  is  endangered  by  the  affairs  of  life  and  of 
the  world.  Many  of  those  who  worship  regularly  in  the 
Church  of  God,  who  fulfill  all  the  external  duties  of  religion, 
who  commune  whenever  the  Lord's  Supper  is  administered 
in  their  presence,  come,  at  times,  under  its  perilous  en- 
chantment, and  need  constant  self-examination  lest  they 
permit  themselves  to  be  deluded  by  its  snares.  You  must 
not  suppose  therefore,  while  I  treat  this  subject,  that  my 
remarks  are  at  all  restricted  to  a  class  of  hearers,  who, 
immersed  in  business  or  care  or  pleasure,  take  no  account 
except  on  Sundays  of  their  soul's  salvation ;  but  you  must 
understand  them  as  referring  to  all,  of  whatever  class  or 
whatever  condition,  who  permit  the  word  of  religious  truth 
that  is  sown  in  their  hearts  to  become  unfruitful.  And 
indeed  those  who  have  made  some  progress  in  religious 
things  would  seem  to  be  more  particularly  intended  in  this 
portion  of  the  parable ;  for  the  seed  is  represented  as  not 
only  sown  in  the  soil,  but  as  actually  growing,  and  in  ap- 
pearance doing  well.  The  effect  produced  upon  it  by  the 
thorns  is  not  visible  until  the  time  of  harvest  comes,  when 
the  master  has  a  right  to  look  for  the  fruit ;  and  then  it  is, 
and  not  until  then,  that  it  is  found  to  be  "  unfruitful." 

Christianity,  my  beloved  hearers,  is  intended  to  prepare 
and  fit  us  for  the  duties  of  life,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
reunites  us  to  God,  and  makes  us  at  peace  with  Him 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  Its  sublime  boast  is  that 
it  is  entirely  practical ;  and  that  its  great  Teacher  taught 


236  The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns. 

us,  not  merely  by  moral  precepts  but  by  His  own  living 
example,  how  we  might  at  once  serve  God  faithfully,  and 
yet  fulfill  all  our  domestic  and  social  obligations  :  thus 
developing  the  highest  style  of  life  for  the  human  race. 
With  this  example  and  these  instructions,  Christians  err 
when  they  would  flee  contact  with  their  fellow-men,  and 
hide  their  light  under  a  bushel ;  —  when  they  would  bury 
themselves  away  from  the  uses  and  employments  of  their 
kind.  Our  Saviour  Himself  never  retired  from  the  society 
of  men,  except  only  for  a  little  time  that  He  might  med- 
itate and  pray ;  and  His  command  to  His  Apostles  was  to 
go  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture. In  His  prayer  to  His  Father,  in  the  seventeenth 
chapter  of  S.  John's  Gospel,  when  He  was  committing  His 
beloved  disciples,  with  all  the  earnestness  of  divine  love,  to 
His  Father's  care,  we  find  Him  using  language  which  indi- 
cated plainly  that  He  expected  them  to  be  in  a  state  of 
intercourse  with  the  world  :  for  His  words  are  :  "  And  now 
I  am  no  more  in  the  world,  but  these  are  in  the  world,  and 
I  come  to  thee.  Holy  Father,  keep  through  thine  own 
name  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  that  they  may  be 

one,  as  we  are  I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldest 

take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  shouldest  keep 
them  from  the  evil." 1  He  supposed  therefore,  that  His 
people  would  be  in  danger  from  the  evil  of  the  world;  and 
His  supplication  for  them  is,  not  that  they  should  be  taken 
away  from  contact  with  it,  but  that  they  should  be  pre- 
served from  the  pollution  of  it,  while  moving  in  the  midst 
of  it.  And  this  is  the  true  position  of  all  Christians,  —  a 
position  which  they  cannot  avoid  without  neglecting  their 
duty;  for  the  most  sacred  obligations  of  life  force  them 
into  connection  with  it.  How  is  a  man  to  provide  for  his 
family,  unless  he  mingle  among  men,  and  carry  on,  in  con- 

1  S.  John  xvii.  11,  15. 


The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns.  2jj 

tact  with  theni,  the  business  for  which  he  has  been  trained? 
And  yet  the  Apostle  says  :  "  But  if  any  provide  not  for  his 
own,  and  specially  for  those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath 
denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  1  How  is  a 
man  to  fulfill  his  relations  to  wife,  to  children,  to  servants, 
unless  he  guides  them  along  the  path  of  life,  and  leads 
them  the  way  amid  its  intricacies  ?  Xay,  how  is  he  to  prop- 
agate the  very  Gospel  itself,  to  spread  among  men  the 
saving  doctrines  and  blessed  precepts  of  his  Master,  unless 
he  meet  his  fellow-man  face  to  face  in  the  streets,  in  the 
haunts  of  business,  around  the  fireside,  as  well  as  in  the 
sanctuary  of  God?  "This  man  receiveth  sinners,  and  eat- 
eth  with  them,"  2  was  the  taunt  which  the  Pharisees  threw 
out  against  our  Lord,  because  He  mingled  with  men,  and 
endeavored  to  win  them  from  what  was  wrong  by  teaching 
them  what  was  right.  All  this  proves  that  each  and  every 
one  of  us  must  be  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  evil  of  the 
world;  must  hear  and  receive  the  Word  into  soil  that  is 
more  or  less  infested  with  thorns ;  must  be  placed  in  peril 
of  having  it  choked  and  made  unfruitful,  when  it  has  been 
planted  for  the  express  purpose  of  bringing  forth  fruit  to 
the  praise  and  glory  of  God.  "We  cannot  perform  our 
Christian  duties,  and  escape  this  trial.  TTe  must  pass 
through  this  ordeal,  if  we  would  be  faithful  to  man,  as  well 
as  to  God. 

And  the  world,  of  which  these  thorns  are  the  representa- 
tive, is  a  terrible  snare  to  all  of  us.  At  some  weak  point  or 
other,  it  touches  every  one  of  us.  If  what  are  called  the 
pleasures  of  the  world  and  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  have  no 
temptation  for  us,  then  perchance  it  is  the  acquisition  of 
riches,  and  their  increase,  which  threaten  to  choke  in  us 
the  good  Word.  If  none  of  these  prove  our  infirmity,  then 
we  are  assailed  in  a  subtler  way :  and  the  cares  of  life,  aris- 
1 1  Tim.  v.  8.  2  g,  Luke  xv.  2. 


238  The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns. 

ing  ofttimes  out  of  its  most  sacred  duties,  are  made  to 
prey  upon  us.  Any  thing,  —  no  matter  how  honest  in  its 
purpose,  no  matter  how  pure  in  its  inception,  no  matter 
how  necessary  to  the  conduct  of  life,  —  may  assume  the 
shape  of  thorns,  and  help  to  choke  the  seed  of  grace.  It 
cannot  bring  forth  fruit  where  the  heart  is  filled  with  the 
world,  and  forgetful  of  God.  It  grows,  because  it  is  in  a 
soil  that  has  been  at  one  time  prepared  for  it,  and  because 
it  receives  the  nourishment  of  the  sanctuary,  and  such  cul- 
ture as  an  absorbed  heart  can  give  it :  but  that  is  all.  The 
food  and  the  strength  which  it  ought  to  receive  from  its 
roots  are  lacking,  because  the  thorns  have  been  permitted 
to  absorb  them  all,  and  waste  them  in  the  service  of  the 
world. 

Our  Lord  puts  forward  two  things  as  most  likely  to  in- 
terfere with  the  fruitfulness  of  Christians,  —  the  "  cares  of 
this  world,"  and  the  "  deceitfulness  of  riches."  To  these 
He  adds,  "  the  lusts  of  other  things,"  which  will  include  all 
those  affections  and  passions  of  the  mind  towards  earthly 
things,  which  are  not  included  under  either  of  the  other 
heads.    Let  me  warn  you  against  each  of  these  in  turn. 

That  which  our  Lord  places  before  all  other  things,  and 
which  is  of  all  thorns  the  most  dangerous  because  the  most 
common,  is  what  He  calls  "  the  cares  of  this  world ;  "  and 
that,  because  every  one  is  obliged  to  bear  some  portion  of 
them.  They  are  a  heavy  burden  upon  the  spirits  of  men, 
and  an  equally  heavy  one  upon  their  souls.  Deceitful  as 
riches  are,  —  and  they  are  fearfully  deceitful,  —  these  cares 
are  still  more  deceitful  and  treacherous.  They  assume 
every  form  of  duty  and  of  obligation,  at  the  same  time  that, 
unless  strictly  guarded,  they  are  alike  injurious  to  the 
growth  of  spirituality  under  whatever  shape  they  may  assail 
us,  whether  of  business  or  of  politics,  whether  of  anxiety 
about  public  or  private  concerns,  of  restlessness  over  the 


The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns.  239 

affairs  of  the  world,  or  the  household.  The  father  is  careful 
and  troubled,  lest  his  family  should  come  to  want  or  to  re- 
proach ;  and  the  mother  is  equally  troubled  about  her  chil- 
dren, her  house,  and  her  servants.  The  poor  man  is  bur- 
dened with  the  thought  of  how  he  shall  provide  what  is 
necessary  for  those  who  are  dependent  upon  him  :  and  the 
rich  man  is  equally  burdened  with  the  thought  of  how  he 
shall  preserve  what  he  has  already  gained,  and  increase  it. 
The  obscure  man  is  worried  by  the  effort  of  bringing  him- 
self into  notice  and  position  ;  and  the  honored  man  by 
the  effort  of  keeping  himself  at  the  point  which  he  has  at- 
tained. The  parents  are  troubled  about  the  education  of 
their  children,  and  their  preparation  for  life,  and  their  set- 
tlement in  the  world  ;  and  the  children  are  looking  forward 
with  eagerness  to  the  day  when  they  shall  begin  the  world 
for  themselves.  The  master  is  anxious  and  careful  about 
the  conduct  and  industry  of  his  servants ;  and  the  servant  is 
equally  anxious  how  he  may  please  his  master,  and  move 
forward  in  the  world.  The  husband  is  careful  how  he  may 
provide  for  his  wife;  and  the  wife  is  equally  careful  how 
she  may  please  and  satisfy  her  husband.  And  so  the  world 
rolls  on,  each  one  carrying  his  burden  of  real  or  imaginary 
care  ;  and  each  one  permitting  it  to  weigh  upon  him  to  the 
injury  not  only  of  health,  of  cheerfulness,  and  of  usefulness, 
but  also  of  spirituality,  more,  far  more,  than  is  at  all  neces- 
sary. And  each  one  excuses  himself  upon  the  plea  of  its 
necessity  ;  and  often  contends  that  it  is  only  the  perform- 
ance of  duty :  thus  endeavoring  to  convince  himself  that 
those  cares  which  are  rapidly  choking  all  his  religion,  are 
a  part  of  religion  itself.  How  many  are  kept  unhappy  all 
their  days  through  this  grievous  weight  of  cares ;  and  how 
many  are  wrecked  by  it,  bodily,  mentally,  spiritually,  be- 
cause they  will  not  proportion  it  to  their  necessity  or  their 
ability!    If  they  would  only  learn  to  see  God's  hand  in 


240  The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns. 

every  thing  which  befalls  them,  God's  mercy  in  every  posi- 
tion in  which  He  may  place  them;  if  they  would  only 
struggle  after  that  which  is  necessary  for  comfort  and  for 
sustenance,  instead  of  grasping  at  earthly  honors,  or  greed- 
ily clutching  at  wealth ;  if  they  would  roll  their  cares  upon 
Him  who  has  said,  "  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake 
thee  :  "  1  how  full  of  peace  would  that  heart  be  which  is 
now  overwhelmed  with  anxiety,  and  in  which  the  thorns 
are  rapidly  choking  the  seed  of  grace  which  may  have  been 
planted  there ! 

The  next  point  upon  which  our  blessed  Lord  dwells  as 
likely  to  choke  the  good  seed  of  the  Word,  is  "  the  deceit- 
fulness  of  riches."  The  expression  is  a  peculiar  one.  It  is 
not  riches,  but  the  deceitfulness  of  riches  ;  —  as  if  there  was 
a  quality  in  the  thing  which  was  peculiarly  dangerous. 
And  so  there  is ;  and  it  is  just  this  quality  of  deceitfulness. 
Riches  are  deceitful,  iu  that  they  tempt  us  to  depend  upon 
ourselves,  and  not  to  look  to  God  for  our  daily  blessings. 
They  are  deceitful,  in  that  they  lead  us  on  to  indulge  in  the 
pride  of  life,  and  in  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  They  are  deceit- 
ful, in  that  they  imperiously  require  us  to  devote  the  most  of 
our  time  to  their  preservation  and  increase.  They  are  de- 
ceitful, in  that  they  promise  us  much  good,  and  give  us  no 
adequate  return.  They  are  deceitful,  in  that  they  hold  out 
the  appearance  of  great  blessing  to  our  children,  when  they 
bring  forth  for  them,  very  often,  nothing  but  misery  and 
ruin.  They  are  deceitful,  in  that  they  take  to  themselves 
wings  and  flee  away,  just  when  all  our  habits  and  tastes  and 
pleasures  had  been  made  to  turn  upon  them.  And  their 
deceitfulness  is  their  danger.  In  themselves,  they  are  no 
more  a  bar  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  than  any  thing  else. 
A  rich  man  may  so  use  what  God  has  given  him,  as  to  lay 
up  for  himself  treasures  in  heaven.    But  the  peril  lies  in 

1  Heb.  xiii.  5. 


The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns,  241 

the  quality  which  is  singled  out  in  our  text.  It  is  because 
we  find  it  so  hard  to  place  riches  in  their  true  relation  to 
God,  and  our  own  souls ;  to  gauge  them  at  their  proper 
value  ;  to  use  them  so  as  not  to  entangle  ourselves  in  ruinous 
pleasures  or  in  overwhelming  anxieties ;  to  cause  them  to 
procure,  for  those  we  love,  the  blessings  which  they  can 
command,  and  yet  not  involve  them  in  the  idleness  and  the 
ruin  which  the  early  possession  of  them  too  often  induces  : 
it  is  because  of  all  this  that  the  Scriptures  dwell  very  fre- 
quently upon  them  as  a  great  impediment  in  the  way  of 
reaching  heaven.  But  while  they  are  an  impediment; 
while  they  constitute  one  of  the  most  insidious  snares  of 
the  human  soul :  their  deceitfulness  may  be  so  clearly  per- 
ceived and  appreciated  as  to  render  them  innocuous.  But 
this  is  all  that  can  be  said  in  their  favor.  If  riches  are 
at  all  overvalued  ;  if  they  are  eagerly  sought  after ;  if  we 
make  haste  to  get  them ;  if  they  are  anxiously  increased ; 
if  they  are  hoarded,  so  that  their  rust  eats  into  them,  and 
their  meanness  into  the  heart  and  the  soul :  they  immedi- 
ately put  forth  all  their  power  of  deceitfulness,  and  choke 
ail  grace  and  all  goodness  in  the  heart.  They  are  thorns, 
which  inevitably  make  a  profession  unfruitful.  And  yet, 
how  eagerly  are  they  pursued,  even  by  those  who  under- 
stand all  this  !  The  temptation  which  pleasure  is  to  the 
young,  riches  and  the  pursuit  of  riches  are  apt  to  be  to  the 
more  advanced  in  life. 

Whatever  ardent  desires  or  affections  of  the  heart  may 
not  be  included  under  the  cares  of  the  world  and  the  deceit- 
fulness of  riches,  our  text  sums  up  under  the  words  "  the 
lusts  of  other  things,"  —  of  other  things  than  the  grace  of 
God  and  the  culture  of  the  soul.  Any  thing  which  fills  the 
mind,  and  keeps  it  from  thinking  of  God  and  Eternity ;  any 
thing  which  interests  the  heart,  so  that  it  is  made  an  idol 
of;  any  thing  which  inflames  the  affections  and  the  pas- 

16 


242  The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns, 

sions,  so  that  they  cannot  be  restrained  within  the  bounds 
of  sobriety  and  of  prudence  :  are  all  thorns  which  choke  the 
Word  of  the  Kingdom,  and  make  it  unfruitful.  Clothed  in 
a  nature  weak  and  corrupt,  surrounded  by  objects  of  inter- 
est and  desire,  in  a  world  whose  very  duties  are  full  of  care 
and  of  anxiety,  we  meet  these  things  at  every  turn  :  and  our 
only  safety  is,  to  grapple  with  them,  and  conquer  them  in 
the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.  Run  away  from 
them  we  cannot ;  evade  them  we  cannot,  without  sinning 
in  some  other  direction ;  overcome  them  we  cannot,  in 
any  strength  of  our  own.  If  we  are  to  be  conquerors,  it 
can  be  only  through  His  power,  who  has  taught  us  how 
to  live,  regardless  of  the  world ;  how  to  die,  triumphing 
over  it. 

These  are  the  thorns  which  choke  our  religion,  and  which 
make  the  people  of  God  unfruitful,  when  they  should  be 
glorifying  God  in  their  souls  and  in  their  bodies  which  are 
His.  And  when  we  see,  not  only  the  careless  of  our  con- 
gregations, but  even  the  professing  part  of  them,  so  anx- 
ious about  the  things  of  the  world ;  so  troubled  about  gain 
and  profit ;  so  greedy  to  add  house  to  house,  and  field  to 
field ;  so  deluded  by  the  deceitfulness  of  riches ;  so  tossed 
hither  and  thither  by  affection  and  desire  :  can  we  be  sur- 
prised that  so  little  fruit  is  brought  forth  for  the  Church, 
and  in  the  Church  ?  Ought  we  to  be  surprised  that  there 
is  so  little  faith  in  the  promises  of  God ;  so  little  joy  in  the 
prospect  of  the  future  ;  so  little  peace  in  believing ;  so  little 
charity  in  the  heart  and  life  ?  Can  it  amaze  us  that  so  lit- 
tle is  done  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  —  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Church  ?  Nay,  should  it  not  rather  fill 
us  with  wonder  that  religion  and  the  Church  exist  at  all  ? 
"  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit,"  that  which  is  to  come  out  of  this 
seed  of  grace  which  the  thorns  are  choking,  "  is  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 


The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns.  243 

temperance,"  1  but  how  can  they  he  expected  to  come  to 
perfection,  when  all  the  influences  which  should  be  exerted 
for  their  production  are  expended  upon  things  which  are 
adverse  to  their  production,  and  which  are  killing  them  out 
as  fast  as  they  push  their  blades  into  the  light  of  day  ? 
Christianity,  and  the  Church  as  the  embodiment  of  Chris- 
tianity, have  the  means  of  culture  and  the  influences  which 
can  mature  the  fruit,  —  such  as  the  dew  of  the  Spirit,  and 
the  gracious  rain  from  heaven ;  the  early  and  the  latter 
rain  ;  and  the  sunshine  of  Christ's  presence  :  but  the  plant 
will  not  flourish  where  the  soil  is  overgrown  with  thorns. 
A  fountain  cannot  give  forth,  at  the  same  time,  sweet  and 
bitter  waters;  neither  can  the  same  heart  be  overgrown 
with  thorns,  and  bring  fruit  unto  perfection ;  be  absorbed 
in  pleasure  and  business  aud  the  acquirement  of  riches  or 
even  the  essential  cares  of  life,  and  bring  to  any  perfection 
the  graces  of  the  Gospel.  "  No  man  can  serve  two  mas- 
ters."2 

You  perceive,  then,  how  fruitless  hearing  is,  unless  the 
heart  is  not  only  prepared  for  it,  but  kept  in  a  condition  of 
order  and  of  culture.  Relaxation  is  necessary  for  the  body 
and  the  mind ;  business  is  necessary  for  the  support  of  our 
families,  and  for  the  comfort  of  our  homes ;  care  always 
rides  behind  us,  wherever  we  may  go ;  anxiety  is  as  certain 
to  cleave  to  us,  as  the  sparks  fly  upwards :  but  there  is  no 
necessity  that  any  of  these  things  should  take  entire  pos- 
session of  us.  All  these  occupations  and  pursuits  will  be 
helped  and  relieved  by  the  presence  and  the  exercise  of 
religion  in  the  heart.  A  merciful  God  knows  our  weak- 
nesses, and  our  inevitable  tendency  to  absorption  in  what- 
ever we  have  to  do ;  and  He  has  so  arranged  the  means 
of  grace  as  to  help  us  to  overcome  this  tendency,  and  to 
mingle  our  Christianity  with  the  necessary  duties  of  life  in 
1  Gal.  v.  22,  23.  2  s#  Matthew  vi.  24. 


244  The  Seed  sown  among  Thorns, 

such  measure  as  will  enable  us  to  keep  down  the  thorns. 
He  does  not  expect  us  to  root  them  out  entirely ;  that  is 
beyond  our  power :  but  He  does  require  of  us  that  we 
should  keep  them  from  choking  off  our  religion,  and  mak- 
ing us  altogether  fruitless.  One  simple  rule  has  our  Sav- 
iour given  us :  "He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the 
same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  1  And  there  is  no  other 
rule.  Out  of  Christ  the  struggle  is  vain :  the  thorns  will 
be  too  much  for  you ;  pleasure  will  entangle  you  ;  business 
will  enwrap  you ;  riches  will  deceive  you ;  the  cares  of  the 
world  will  overwhelm  and  destroy  you ! 

1866. 

1  S.  John  xv.  5. 


CtoentHIJtrti  Sermon 


O  house  of  Jacob,  come  ye,  and  let  us  walk  in  the  light  of  the 
Lord.  —  Isaiah  ii.  5. 

TN  the  graphic  account  which  the  Bible  gives  us  of  Crea- 
tion,  —  that  account  which,  although  brief,  is  compre- 
hensive and  distinct,  —  the  production  of  Light  is  the  first 
outward  act  of  the  Divine  power.  In  the  beginning,  ages 
ago, — as  long  ago  as  man  and  Nature  choose  to  place  it,  for 
no  distance  of  time  can  carry  it  beyond  the  existence  of  God, 
—  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  created.  The  material 
earth  was  there ;  but  it  was  without  form  and  void.  The 
great  deep  was  there  ;  but  darkness  was  upon  its  face.  And 
there  they  lay,  from  the  beginning,  fermenting,  seething, 
rolling  in  space,  undergoing  such  changes  as  their  Creator 
chose  to  work  upon  them,  until  such  time  as  He  was  ready 
to  prepare  them  for  the  habitations  of  men.  Then  began 
the  movements  of  those  Divine  Persons,  whose  acts  have 
illustrated  our  world,  and  whose  glory  is  to  fill  forever  the 
universe  of  God.  The  Spirit  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters,  —  the  Spirit  of  life,  —  and  impregnated  it  with  the 
germs  of  being  which  were  afterwards  to  burst  forth  for  the 
use  and  comfort  and  blessing  of  His  creatures.  And  when 
that  divine  Spirit  had  brooded  long  enough  to  impregnate 
the  seeds  of  things,  then  went  forth  the  sublime  command, 
"  Let  there  be  Light :  and  there  was  Light."  1  Its  existence 
was  the  prime  necessity.  Every  thing  depended  upon  it ; 
and  therefore  it  must  precede  every  thing.    Life  sprang  up 

1  Gen.  i.  3. 


246    Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord, 

beneath  its  genial  touch,  —  the  life  of  plant  and  leaf  and 
flower.  Life,  in  every  existing  being,  depended  upon  it; 
for  when  they  leave  it,  they  enter  the  realms  of  death,  and 
the  darkness  of  the  grave.  Beauty  came  forth  of  it :  for 
without  light  there  is  no  color ;  and  without  color,  one  dull, 
gray,  leaden  hue  would  enwrap  every  thing,  and  swallow  up 
all  that  rich  variety  of  heavenly  dies  and  earthly  shadows 
which  makes  our  world  so  charming,  even  under  the  with- 
ering touch  of  the  curse.  Happiness  and  joy  flashed  on 
creation  together  with  its  brightness ;  for  what  would  life 
be  without  light  ?  What  would  be  the  pleasure  of  existence, 
if  we  were  doomed  to  grope  about  forever  in  darkness  ?  No 
vision  to  guide  us  in  safety,  or  preserve  us  from  destruc- 
tion ;  no  change  to  gratify  the  sight,  or  give  variety  to  life ; 
nothing  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  affections ;  no  place 
for  friendship,  or  for  love ;  110  human  face  divine  to  look 
upon,  and  drink  in  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  soul ! 
—  one  despairing  sense  of  hopeless,  remediless  darkness 
would  swallow  every  thing,  —  even  hope!  The  wail  would 
go  up  alike  from  Nature  and  from  man ;  from  field  and 
forest,  from  cave  and  den ;  from  the  heavens  above,  and  the 
earth  beneath,  and  the  waters  under  the  earth :  "  Roll 
darkness  from  us,  0  Thou  who  gavest  us  our  being,  and 
restore  to  us  Thy  Light !  " 

And  is  there  no  such  thing,  my  beloved  hearers,  as 
spiritual  darkness  ?  Is  a  creation,  which  would  send  up  to 
its  God  such  an  universal  cry  of  anguish  at  being  doomed 
to  unceasing  natural  darkness,  content  to  abide  forever  in 
a  condition  of  corruption  and  moral  disorder  which  the 
inspired  Word  of  its  Creator  designates  as  "  gross  dark- 
ness "  ?  Have  you  ever  noticed  the  wonderful  analogy 
which  there  is,  even  in  language,  between  that  first  chapter 
in  Genesis  which  describes  to  us  the  creation  of  natural 
light,  and  the  first  chapter  of  S.  John's  Gospel  which  gives 


Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord.  247 

us  what  may  be  called  the  philosophical  presentation  of  our 
Saviour  to  the  world  as  its  spiritual  Light  ?  Like  the  chap- 
ter in  Genesis,  it  carries  us  hack  to  those  ages  of  the  past 
which  the  geologist  is  always  demanding,  and  which  the 
infidel  declares  to  be  necessary  for  the  harmony  of  things  ; 
and  is  opened  with  a  like  solemnity :  "  In  the  beginning  was 
the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was 

God  In  him  was  life  ;  and  the  life  was  the  light  of 

men.  Aud  the  light  shiueth  in  darkness ;  and  the  darkness 
comprehended  it  not."  1  It  is  literally  the  second  Creation. 
Every  thing,  save  the  rough  material,  was  wanting  in  the 
moral  world,  as  it  had  been  wanting  in  the  natural.  The 
rude  elements  were  in  man,  as  in  the  old  world  of  nature ; 
and  like  them,  seething,  fermenting,  undergoing  all  man- 
ner of  hideous  change  :  but  there  was  no  spiritual  life,  no 
moral  beauty,  no  heavenly  joy ;  for  darkness  covered  the 
earth,  "  and  gross  darkness  the  people."  2  They  groped  in 
the  noon  day  as  in  the  night ;  they  groped  for  the  wall  like 
the  blind,  and  they  groped  as  if  they  had  no  eyes;  they 
stumbled  at  noon  day  as  in  the  night ;  they  were  "  in  deso- 
late places  as  dead  men."  3  Such  is  the  gloomy  description 
which  the  sacred  writers  give  of  the  condition  of  the  world 
when  Christ  our  Lord  arose  upon  it  and  said  :  "  I  am  the 
light  of  the  world."  4  And  the  assertion  of  it  was  not  con- 
fined to  their  prophetic  denunciations.  The  philosophy 
of  the  Old  World  confessed  that  there  was  no  life  in  the 
darkness  which  enshrouded  them ;  that  death  ended  every 
thing;  that  the  grave  was  a  pit  wherein  was  no  water. 
And  there  was  no  moral  beauty  in  such  a  world  ;  no  beauty 
arising  out  of  the  highest  sources  of  spiritual  harmony,  — 
out  of  purity,  out  of  faith,  out  of  charity,  out  of  holi- 
ness :  —  the  dyes  of  heaven  intermingling  with  the  shadows 

1  S.  John  i.  1,  4,  5.  2  Isaiah  lx.  2. 

3  Isaiah  lix.  10.  *  S.  John  ix.  5. 


248    Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord. 

of  earth  !  And  there  could  be  no  true  joy ;  for  joy  cannot 
exist  without  hope,  and  a  future,  and  an  expanding  glory 
spreading  away  in  the  visions  of  promise  and  of  covenant. 
And  that  old  Pagan  world  was  sensible  of  it.  The  earth 
groaned  under  the  curse  of  God  :  "  For  we  know,"  says  S. 
Paul,  "  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in 
pain  together  until  now."1  Nature  acknowledges  it  to- 
day, —  even  although  Light  has  beamed  upon  the  world, 
and  is  waging  fierce  battle  with  darkness,  —  in  the  wild 
fury  of  her  elemental  strife,  and  in  the  mad  rage  with 
which  she  tears  to  pieces,  and  swallows  up,  and  tramples  in 
her  fury,  the  creatures  who  undertake  to  harness  and  con- 
trol her.  She  buries  navies  in  the  depths  of  the  Ocean ; 
she  engulphs  cities  in  her  womb  of  fire ;  she  sweeps  away 
multitudes,  as  she  passes  along  with  her  pestilential  breath ; 
she  disgorges  from  her  bowels  the  materials  out  of  which 
man  forges  the  instruments  of  cruelty.  She  manifests  her 
misery  by  her  rage ;  and  echoes  back  to  man  the  truths 
which  he  tries  not  to  believe  because  they  come  from  the 
inspiration  of  God  :  "  Cursed  is  the  earth  for  thy  sake  ;  — 
ihy  sake,  because  of  thy  sin  !  Tliou  hast  blotted  out  the 
light !  Hwu  hast  brought  darkness  once  more  over  the 
earth."  And  man,  too,  in  his  wild  restlessness,  acknowl- 
edges that  Nature  has  just  cause  for  her  madness.  His 
own  misery  satisfies  him  of  her's,  and  he  too  gnashes  his 
teeth  against  the  darkness  in  which  he  is  enveloped;  and, 
—  while  he  springs  upon  his  brother  with  the  fury  of  a 
wild  beast,  calling  evil  good,  and  good  evil,  deluging  the 
earth  with  his  blood  from  the  days  of  Cain  until  now,  — 
he  hurls  defiance  into  the  face  of  his  Creator,  loving  "  dark- 
ness rather  than  light."  But  thanks  be  to  God,  in  spite 
of  all  this,  Light  has  come  into  the  world,  —  moral  light, 
spiritual  light,  the  light  of  the  Lord,  —  and  is  growing  fast 

1  Rom.  viii.  22. 


Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord.  249 

in  brightness,  and  bringing  into  its  focus,  for  exposure  and 
final  destruction,  all  the  hidden  things  of  darkness.  The 
Creator  has  said  a  second  time,  "  Let  there  be  light :  "  and 
the  primal  source  of  life,  of  beauty,  and  of  joy  in  the  spirit- 
ual world,  has  relumed  the  old  Creation ! 

And  as  with  light  in  the  natural  world,  so  is  it  with  light 
in  the  moral  and  spiritual  world.  We  cannot  do  without 
it.  It  is  a  necessity.  It  is  the  ornament  of  man.  It  is 
the  joy  of  the  world,  and  its  glory  !  It  is  a  necessity,  be- 
cause we  have  a  rugged,  tangled  path  to  tread  in  life,  and 
we  must  have  light  upon  it,  or  we  perish ;  because  we  are 
laborers  in  God's  vineyard,  and  we  must  have  light  to  do 
our  work  aright ;  because  we  are  preparing  for  another 
state  of  being,  and  we  must  have  light  to  exhibit  for  us  the 
conditions  of  that  being,  and  the  mode  by  which  we  are  to 
fit  ourselves  for  it.  It  is  the  ornament  of  man,  because  it 
shines  in  upon  our  unsatisfied  natures,  and  changes  and 
purifies  them,  and  then  fructifies  the  germs  which  have 
been  implanted  in  the  heart  and  conscience  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  when  He  brooded  over  them  even  while  they  lay  in 
darkness ;  because  it  changes  us  from  grace  to  grace,  caus- 
ing all  the  faculties  and  capacities  of  our  being,  which  were 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  to  reflect  (as  points  in  na- 
ture—  the  leaf,  the  dew-drop,  the  grain  of  sand  —  do  the 
sun's  rays)  the  radiance  of  righteousness,  and  illumine  all 
around  us  with  the  new  life  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  the  joy  and 
glory  of  the  world ;  for  it  opens  to  man's  vision  a  glorious 
futurity,  when  he  shall  enter  upon  a  higher  state  of  undy- 
ing existence,  in  which  he  is  to  be  a  partaker  of  the  Divine 
Nature,  and  to  grow  eternally  into  the  likeness  of  Him 
who  is  the  express  image  of  His  Father.  Spiritual  light 
unfolds  to  us  a  new  world :  a  new  world  outside  of  us, 
causing  us  to  look  upon  Nature  and  the  world  with  un- 
sealed eyes,  finding  in  them  a  beauty  which  was  never  seen 


250    Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord. 

before ;  a  new  world  within  us,  wherein  the  sated  or  crushed 
affections  may  revive  and  flourish  in  a  higher  life,  soaring 
upward  and  upward  until  they  fold  their  new-found  wings 
at  the  Throne  of  the  Eternal.  And  yet  man  prefers  dark- 
ness to  all  this  heavenly  light ;  would  rather  grovel  on  the 
earth,  and  creep,  in  darkness,  amid  the  beggarly  elements 
of  an  effete  and  worn-out  world,  the  companion  of  impurity, 
and  sin,  and  crime  !  Well  might  that  beloved  disciple,  who 
felt  in  the  depths  of  his  own  loving  heart  the  joy  and  the 
glory  of  the  Light  of  the  Lord,  utter,  as  if  lost  in  amaze- 
ment, "  And  the  light  shineth  in  darkness ;  and  the  dark- 
ness comprehended  it  not." 

It  is  to  this  spiritual  light,  this  light  brought  into  the 
world  by  Christ  and  now  shining  in  His  Word  and  in  His 
Church,  that  you,  my  hearers,  are  invited  to  come.  "  0 
house  of  Jacob,  come  ye,  and  let  us  walk  in  the  light  of  the 
Lord."  How  loving  and  sweet  this  offer  of  fellowship ! 
"  Let  us  walk,"  is  the  language  which  the  prophet  places 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Gentiles,  who  have  flocked  in  to  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of 
Jacob,  to  learn  His  ways,  and  to  walk  in  His  paths.  Jacob 
had  been  invoking  them  for  long  ages ;  and  now  they  are 
invoking  him.  So  full  of  comfort  and  joy  and  glory  have 
they  found  this  light  of  the  Lord  which  has  arisen  upon 
them,  the  Gentiles,  that  in  the  exuberance  of  their  new- 
found happiness  they  are  reflecting  it  back  upon  Jacob. 
How  amazing,  that  even  before  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
had  arisen  upon  the  world,  while  as  yet  His  coming  rays 
were  only  tinging  the  east  with  the  early  dawn,  God  should 
have  permitted  His  chosen  heralds  of  salvation  to  catch  the 
glory  of  its  hidden  fires,  and  to  flash  them  in  prophetic 
brightness  into  the  besotted  eyes  of  a  wicked  world  !  And 
yet  we,  now  that  yon  Sun  has  fully  risen  and  is  manifesting 
His  glory  all  around  us,  are  hiding  from  it  and  fleeing  the 


Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord.  251 

light,  like  owls  and  bats,  —  fearing  lest  it  may  make  our 
sins  too  manifest;  preferring  darkness  rather  than  light. 
Beware,  my  hearers,  of  that  solemn  warning  of  the  Apostle  : 
"  But  if  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost : 
in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  eyes  of 
them  which  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gos- 
pel of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto 
them." 1 

We  belong  to  that  Gentile  Church,  which  Isaiah  thus 
saw  in  vision  praying  fellowship  with  the  house  of  Jacob, 
and  inviting  them  to  walk  hand  in  hand  in  the  light  of  the 
Lord.  How  beautiful  the  picture  —  the  old  enmity  between 
Jew  and  Gentile  done  away  in  Christ,  melted  before  the 
fervent  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  their  swords 
beaten  into  ploughshares  and  their  spears  into  pruning 
hooks,  and  they  going  up  together  to  the  house  of  the 
Lord !  May  that  blessed  vision  soon  be  fulfilled,  when  all 
nations  shall  flow  up  to  Mount  Zion,  and  the  Mountain  of 
the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills :  — 

"  Hail,  glorious  day,  expected  long, 

When  Jew  and  Greek  one  prayer  shall  pour ; 
"With  eager  feet  one  temple  throng, 
With  grateful  praise  one  God  adore  !  " 

Until  then,  may  we,  who  call  ourselves  Christians,  have 
fellowship  one  with  another,  and  call  upon  each  other  to 
walk  hand  in  hand  in  the  light  of  the  Lord  ! 

Can  any  thing  be  more  exquisite  than  this  conception  of 
a  band  of  pilgrims  walking  together  in  the  light  of  the 
Lord  ?  Darkness  all  around,  —  gross  darkness  enveloping 
the  world  :  but  one  stream  of  light,  flowing  from  the  Cross 
of  Jesus;  and  they,  clinging  together  in  that  Light,  lest 
they  should  be  tempted  out  of  it  by  the  powers  of  darkness  ! 
1  2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4. 


252    Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord, 

And  yet  it  is  true  to  the  very  letter.  That  is  our  condition ; 
and  this  close  gathering  together  in  the  stream  of  light 
which  flows  from  Christ,  should  be  our  attitude.  Because 
we  are  in  the  light,  let  us  not  suppose  that  we  can  never 
any  more  be  merged  in  darkness.  Our  Saviour  was  the 
Light  Himself :  and  yet  was  He  tempted  in  the  wilderness, 
in  the  garden,  on  the  Cross.  He  was  tempted  in  all  things 
like  as  we  are,  save  without  sin.  And  if  Satan  dared  to 
undertake  the  task  of  putting  out  the  Light  itself,  think 
ye  that  he  will  permit  any  of  us,  who  are  only  walking  in 
that  light,  to  escape  his  wiles  and  sophistries?  In  the 
Gospel  for  the  Day1  ye  have  heard  read  from  the  Holy 
Scriptures  the  whole  story  of  that  daring  act  of  the  great 
Tempter,  how  he  struck  at  every  human  weakness :  at  the 
infirmities  of  the  body ;  at  the  pride  of  the  heart ;  at  the 
aspiring  ambition  of  the  earthly  spirit.  And  in  the  same 
way  will  he  probe  the  weaknesses  of  every  one  of  us,  taking 
them  in  turn,  if  so  be  that  he  may  plunge  us  once  again 
into  darkness.  Darkness !  that  is  the  state  he  glories  in. 
He  is  the  prince  of  darkness,  even  as  Christ  is  the  Light. 
They  are  enemies  for  time  and  for  Eternity.  The  one, 
struggling  to  envelop  the  world  once  more  in  that  gross 
darkness  which  enshrouded  it  when  he  reigned  triumphant 
over  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  when  every  faculty  and 
instrument  of  man  was  under  his  undisputed  control :  the 
other,  forcing  the  pure,  bright  beams  of  His  own  divine 
Light  into  the  dark  places  of  man's  habitation,  through 
His  Word,  through  His  messengers,  through  His  Church, 
through  the  example  of  those  who  call  themselves  the 
children  of  Light.  Every  one  of  us  is  engaged  in  this 
conflict ;  is  on  the  side  either  of  light  or  of  darkness ;  is 
helping  Satan,  or  working  with  the  Lord  of  Light ;  is  enlarg- 
ing the  confines  of  knowledge,  of  truth  and  of  glory,  or  is 

1  The  First  Sunday  in  Lent. 


Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord.  253 

drawing  the  curtains  of  night  closer  around  the  world.  It 
is  fearful  to  dwell  upon  our  responsibility :  for  it  extends, 
beyond  ourselves,  to  children  and  children's  children,  along 
the  stretch  of  time,  until  it  mingles  with  Eternity. 

The  exhortation  of  my  text  is,  "  Come  ye,  and  let  us  walk 
in  the  light  of  the  Lord  :  "  and  the  Church  echoes  this 
message  at  all  times ;  but  especially  now  when  she  is  ap- 
proaching, nay,  is  already  in  the  midst  of,  that  exhibition 
of  the  power  of  Satan,  of  which  Christ  said  :  "  This  is  your 
hour,  and  the  power  of  darkness ; 99 1  and  which  culminated 
in  the  Sacrifice  upon  the  Cross.  You  are  now  called  to 
especial  prayer  and  watchfulness ;  to  a  closer  study  of  the 
Word  of  God ;  to  a  deeper  examination  of  your  hearts  and 
lives ;  to  a  renewed  exercise  of  repentance,  and  faith,  and 
charity.  You  are  invited  to  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Lord, 
—  in  fellowship  with  his  people ;  in  the  communion  of 
Saints  ;  in  the  joy  of  God ;  and  in  the  blessed  hope  of  ever- 
lasting life.  And  unless  we  obey  that  invitation,  we  are 
despising  the  teachings  of  our  Holy  Mother ;  and  we  are 
exposing  ourselves  on  every  hand  to  the  encroachments  of 
that  enemy  who  often  presents  himself  as  an  angel  of  light, 
and  whispers  sin  into  our  ears  so  plausibly,  so  seduciugly, 
that  we  are  led  away  captive,  with  our  eyes  blinded  that  we 
cannot  see,  and  our  hearts  hardened  that  we  cannot  under- 
stand. "  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Yet  a  little  while 
is  the  light  with  you.  Walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  lest 
darkness  come  upon  you :  for  he  that  walketh  in  darkness 
knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth.  While  ye  have  light,  be- 
lieve in  the  light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light.  " 2 

And  especially,  my  beloved  hearers,  is  there  great  danger, 
in  these  days,  of  mistaking  the  path  of  Light.  Many  are 
kindling  fires  of  their  own,  and  calling  them  the  Light  of 
the  Lord.    New  doctrines  are  being  hatched  all  the  world 

1  S.  Luke  xxii.  53.  2  g.  John  xii.  35,  36. 


254    Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord. 

over,  —  doctrines  of  devils ;  and  they  thrust  themselves 
across  the  pathway  of  the  children  of  Light.  Be  watchful, 
and  strengthen  the  things  that  remain.  Hold  together, 
children  of  Light,  and  walk  hand  in  hand  in  the  light  of 
the  Lord.  Edify  and  strengthen  one  another.  Be  valiant 
for  the  Truth.  "  Warn  them  that  are  unruly,  comfort  the 
feeble-minded,  support  the  weak,  he  patient  toward  all  men. 
See  that  none  render  evil  for  evil  unto  any  man  ;  but  ever 
follow  that  which  is  good,  both  among  yourselves,  and  to 
all  men.  .  .  .  Pray  without  ceasing.  .  .  .  Quench  not  the 
Spirit.  .  .  .  Prove  all  things ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good. 
Abstain  from  all  appearance  of  evil." 1  The  Word  of  God 
and  the  Church  of  God,  —  the  two  great  instruments  which 
reflect  the  Light  of  Christ,  —  are  being  assaulted  on  every 
hand.  Cling  to  them  only  the  more  closely,  for  they  are 
your  impregnable  strongholds  in  the  day  of  temptation. 
Even  our  Lord  himself,  when  tempted,  answered  Satan  with 
the  word  of  truth  :  "  It  is  written  ;  "  "  It  is  written  ;  "  "  It 
is  written."  Although  the  Wisdom  of  God  and  the  Light 
of  the  world,  He  drew  not  upon  His  own  Divine  Mind  to 
answer  Satan,  but  used  only  that  weapon  which  is  ready  at 
the  hand  of  his  poorest  and  weakest  disciple.  Bring  every 
thing  "  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  :  if  they  speak  not 
according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
them." 2  And  the  Church,  with  her  Creed  and  her  formu- 
laries and  her  teaching,  is  but  a  concentration  of  that  Light 
which  flows  from  Christ,  kept  as  a  treasury  for  her  chil- 
dren. Keep  ever  before  you  the  denunciation  of  the 
prophet :  "  Behold,  all  ye  that  kindle  a  fire,  that  compass 
yourselves  about  with  sparks  :  walk  in  the  light  of  your  fire, 
and  in  the  sparks  that  ye  have  kindled.  This  shall  ye  have 
of  mine  hand  ;  ye  shall  lie  down  in  sorrow."  3 

The  end  and  purpose  of  all  our  Christian  knowledge  and 

1 1  Thess.  v.  14,  15,  17,  19,  21,  22.         2  Isaiah  viii.  20.         8  Ibid.  1.  11. 


Let  us  Walk  in  the  Light  of  the  Lord.  255 

exercise  is,  that  we  should  reflect  the  Light  of  the  Lord. 
I  close  with  the  words  of  an  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  one 
of  the  holiest  prelates  that  ever  sat  in  that  chair :  "  As  the 
darkest  body,  when  brought  near  a  shining  flame,  derives  a 
brightness  from  it ;  so  must  it  be  with  those  who  profess  to 
have  been  brought  nigh  to  God  through  the  Gospel  of  His 
Son.  c  If  we  say  that  we  have  fellowship  with  him.  and 
walk  in  darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not  the  truth.' 1  As  He 
is  Light,  so  all  who  are  united  to  Him  must  be  Light.  He 
calls  them  to  he  partakers  of  His  own  holy  Nature ;  6  and 
every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  himself, 
even  as  He  is  pure.' 2  This  is  the  proof  that  our  hearts 
are  drawn  to  Him,  and  united  with  Him,  that  we  £  cast  off 
the  works  of  darkness,'3  and  walk  in  the  light  as  £  children 
of  the  day,5  4  whose  deeds  will  bear  to  be  exposed ;  nay, 
which  shine  before  men,  and  attract  others  to  the  Light 
to  which  they  owe  their  brightness.  Then  are  we  indeed 
part  of  that  family  which  God  has  created  for  Himself, 
through  Jesus  Christ :  f  We  have  fellowship  one  with  an- 
other ; ' 5  we  are  joined  together  as  brethren  who  have 
c  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism:'6  and  -'the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin/' 95  7 

1866. 

1 «  S.  John  i.  6.  2         ^  3,  3  Rom>  12. 

*  1  Thess.  v.  5.  5  1  s.  John  i.  7.  6  Eph.  iv.  5. 

7  1  S.  John  i.  7. 


CtDcntHourtl)  Sermon. 


To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto  me  ? 
saith  the  Lord.  —  Isaiah  i.  n. 

T 1 1HIS  question  seems  a  strange  one  to  be  asked  of  the 
people  of  Israel  by  their  Lord  and  King,  when  we  re- 
member the  very  stringent  command  and  the  very  minute 
instructions  which  that  people  had  received  for  the  offering 
of  almost  numberless  sacrifices,  and  when  we  look  forward 
to  the  divine  Saviour,  whom  those  sacrifices  foreshadowed 
and  typified.  It  appears  at  first  sight  casting  contempt,  as 
it  were,  upon  their  obedience  ;  to  be  very  inconsistent  with 
all  that  had  gone  before ;  nay  almost  contradictory  of  the 
institutions  which  Jehovah  had  Himself  established.  To 
arrange  a  worship  upon  this  very  basis  of  sacrifices,  and 
then  to  ask  "To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your 
sacrifices  unto  me  ?  "  was,  to  say  the  least,  a  very  startling 
proposition,  and  one  calling  upon  the  Israelites  to  pause 
and  inquire  hito  the  purpose  and  meaning  of  its  enuncia- 
tion. And  this  was  just  the  effect  which  God  designed  to 
produce  by  means  of  His  prophets.  The  prophetical  office 
was  altogether  distinct  from  the  priestly.  The  latter,  the 
priests,  were  set  apart  from  a  particular  family  to  carry 
on  the  regular  and  ordinary  routine  of  the  divine  arrange- 
ments :  to  offer  sacrifices ;  to  mediate  between  God  and  His 
chosen  people;  to  offer  atonement  for  public  and  private 
sins.  The  prophets,  on  the  other  hand,  were  not  necessa- 
rily priests ;  but  were  raised  up  by  God,  in  an  irregular 
manner,  to  speak  for  Him  to  the  people,  and  startle  them 


The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent.  257 

from  that  formalism  into  which  all  regular  worship  is  very 
apt  to  fall.  The  former  were  the  unceasing  line  in  which 
the  service  of  God  descended  from  father  to  son :  the  lat- 
ter were  special  messengers  sent  by  God  to  stir  up  priests 
as  well  as  people  to  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  spirit  of 
the  work  which  they  were,  too  often,  smothering  under  the 
letter  of  their  performances.  The  one  was  necessary  for 
the  preservation  and  due  performance  of  the  rites  and  cer- 
emonies which  were  to  be  fulfilled  in  Christ :  the  other  just 
as  indispensable  to  bring  back  the  minds  of  all  parties  to 
the  gracious  purpose  which  gave  to  those  institutions  their 
true  and  only  meaning*. 

It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  we  must  look  at  the 
words  of  my  text  in  order  to  understand  them.  They  were 
uttered  by  the  Lord  through  the  mouth  of  one  of  these 
special  messengers,  the  prophet  Isaiah,  and  were  therefore 
intended  to  bring  the  careless  Israelites  back  to  a  proper 
sense  of  their  duty.  While  fulfilling  to  the  letter  the  com- 
mandments of  God ;  while  offering  all  the  sacrifices  and 
bringing  all  the  oblations ;  while  filling  the  Temple  with 
incense,  and  keeping  the  new  moons  and  appointed  feasts  : 
the  tenor  of  the  chapter  proves  that  the  Israelites  were  ut- 
terly forgetful  of  the  spirit  which  was  intended  to  sanctify 
these  devotions,  and  were  carrying  to  the  Temple  unholy 
hearts,  and  were  lifting  up  unclean  hands  to  Jehovah.  And 
it  was  because  of  these  misconceptions  of  His  purposes  and 
will  that  their  gracious  Lord  asked  them  the  question  from 
which  I  preach  :  "To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of 
your  sacrifices  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord  ?  "  Of  what  avail  is 
all  this  literal  fulfillment  of  my  commandments  to  either 
of  us,  to  you,  or  to  Me,  if  you  overlook,  so  entirely  as  you  do, 
the  final  cause  of  their  institution  ?  Can  you  not  perceive 
that  the  sacrifice  of  bulls  and  of  goats  can  be  of  no  ben- 
efit to  Me,  whose  are  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  the  cat- 

17 


258  The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent. 

tie  upon  a  thousand  hills,  if  you  separate  that  sacrifice  from 
the  holiness  which  it  was  intended  to  produce  and  main- 
tain ?  What  care  I  for  ohlations ;  for  incense ;  for  new 
moons  ;  for  appointed  seasons  :  unless  they  are  accompanied 
by  the  spiritual  results,  with  which  I  intended  that  they 
should  always  stand  connected  ?  And  of  what  possible  ben- 
efit can  they  be  to  you,  unless  they  lead  you  to  those  exer- 
cises of  repentance,  of  faith,  of  holiness,  which  they  were 
established  to  produce  ?  Away  with  them,  if  they  are  to  be 
mere  forms  !  Unless  the  heart  is  disciplined  by  them,  they 
are  the  merest  husks,  furnishing'  you  no  spiritual  food,  yield- 
ing Me  no  acceptable  worship. 

In  all  this,  you  will  perceive,  there  is  no  contradiction ; 
the  contempt  of  God  is  not  directed  against  His  appoint- 
ments, but  against  their  misuse  of  them.  Sacrifices,  obla- 
tions, incense,  the  appointed  feasts,  were  full  of  their  orig- 
inal value,  when  offered  aright,  and  understood  aright: 
still  propitiated  God ;  still  atoned  for  sin ;  sti!l  kept  wrath 
from  bursting  out  upon  them  from  between  the  cherubim ; 
still  pointed  to  a  coming  Saviour.  But  all  this  was  made 
valueless  by  themselves.  They  used  them  punctually  as 
forms,  but  did  not  permit  them  to  exert  the  slightest  influ- 
ence upon  their  conduct.  They  went  to  the  performance  of 
them  superstitiously,  as  a  task  which  God  had  set,  expecting 
110  spiritual  benefit  from  them,  and  therefore  receiving  none. 
They  were  consequently  of  but  little  use ;  and  no  wonder, 
therefore,  that  Jehovah  said,  though  He  had  instituted 
them  Himself :  "  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations ;  incense  is 
an  abomination  unto  me ;  the  new  moons  and  Sabbaths,  the 
calling  of  assemblies,  I  cannot  away  with  ;  it  is  iniquity, 
even  the  solemn  meeting." 1 

And  just  as  it  was  between  Jehovah  and  His  elect  people, 
shall  it  be  between  the  Lord  and  ourselves,  unless  we  are 

1  Isaiah  i.  13. 


The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent  259 

careful  in  all  our  worship  to  preserve  the  spiritual  meaning 
which  it  is  intended  to  convey.  All  regular  devotion  has  a 
tendency  to  run  into  formalism  :  and  by  formalism  I  mean 
a  system  which  quiets  the  conscience  by  the  performance 
of  certain  religious  acts,  without  any  reference  to  the  spir- 
itual meaning  of  them  ;  just  as  a  child,  to  still  its  nightly 
fears,  might  hurry  over  by  rote  its  little  prayer.  And  it 
would  surprise  all  of  us,  could  we  be  made  aware  how  much 
of  our  worship,  both  private  and  public,  does  run  into  this 
very  formalism, — this  "vain  repetition,"1  as  our  Saviour 
called  it,  of  prayers  without  any  spiritual  exercise  accom- 
panying them.  We  need  no  better  proof  of  this  than  the 
little  result  which  flows  from  prayer.  We  are  told  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  that  God  is  a  hearer  of  prayer ;  that  He 
will  grant  any  thing  which  is  asked,  in  His  Son's  Name, 
according  to  His  will.  And  yet,  where  is  the  answer  to 
prayer?  We  are  all  of  us  asking:  who  is  receiving? 
Surely  God  cannot  deceive  us.  The  fault  is  with  us ;  and 
lies  in  just  this  substitution  of  formal,  customary  prayer, 
for  that  earnest,  spiritual  wrestling  with  God,  which  is 
prayer  in  His  view.  Examine  yourselves,  my  hearers,  upon 
this  point ;  consider  your  mode  of  prayer ;  your  prepara- 
tion for  prayer ;  your  faith  in  prayer ;  your  expectations  of 
a  return  of  prayer.  Judge  yourselves  honestly,  as  in  the 
sight  of  God,  and  determine  how  much  of  it  is  the  mere 
hurrying  over  of  a  form,  so  as  to  quiet  conscience  and  feel 
that  you  have  knelt  in  prayer  ;  and  how  much  is  real  com- 
munion with  God,  to  which  you  go  with  pleasure,  and  from 
which  you  return  laden  with  a  blessing  of  the  dew  of 
Heaven. 

And  as  it  is  with  private  prayer,  so  is  it  likewise  with  all 
religious  exercises  of  whatever  kind.  Their  tendency  is  to 
formalism  ;  and  the  duty  of  your  ministers  is,  like  the  office 

1  S,  Matt.  vi.  7. 


260  The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent. 

of  the  prophets  of  old,  to  rouse  you  up  perpetually  to  a 
consideration  of  the  spiritual  meaning  which  is  enshrined 
in  all  our  ritual  usages.  They  are  valueless,  unless  they  are 
looked  through,  and  God  is  seen  as  their  life  and  purpose. 
This  very  season  which  we  are  now  celebrating,  and  which 
calls  upon  us  for  unusual  solemnity,  can  he  of  no  service  to 
any  one  who  keeps  it  as  a  mere  form  :  who  is  satisfied  by 
an  attendance  upon  frequent  services.  God  might  well  ask 
of  such  an  one :  "To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of 
your  services  unto  me  ?  Do  I  need  your  prayers  or  your 
praise,  when  there  are  myriads  of  unfallen  and  glorious 
spirits  who  offer  it  up  to  Me  perpetually  from  hearts  over- 
flowing with  gratitude  and  from  lips  sanctified  by  My  Holy 
Spirit  ?  "  Its  object  is  to  deepen  our  repentance,  to  enliven 
our  faith,  to  stir  up  all  our  graces,  to  call  us  to  the  exer- 
cise of  self-denial,  of  humility,  of  holiness.  Unless  these 
are  the  results  of  it,  it  is  nothing  but  form  :  it  is  only  the 
utterance  of  an  increased  number  of  prayers  for  which, 
when  we  come  to  reckon  up  the  result,  we  shall  find  no 
return  at  all. 

Twelve  days  have  already  elapsed  of  the  period  set  apart 
for  the  observance  of  our  holy  solemnity ;  and  can  you  per- 
ceive that  you  have  received  any  special  benefit  from  it  ? 
You  have  kept  it,  and  perhaps  kept  it  faithfully ;  but  are 
you  conscious  of  any  spiritual  improvement?  Has  your 
heart  been  in  the  work  ?  Has  Christ  been  made  the  end 
of  it,  and  your  life  in  Christ  its  fruit  ?  Lent  is  not  com- 
manded that  a  certain  amount  of  prayer  may  be  offered  to 
God,  nor  that  a  fixed  amount  of  bodily  exercise  may  be 
passed  through ;  but  that  your  religious  life  may  be  solem- 
nized. It  is  a  wonderful  provision  of  the  means  of  grace, 
that  while  God  delights  in  the  prayers  and  the  praises  of 
His  people,  He  has  so  arranged  those  exercises  that  they  are 
never  acceptable  unto  Him  unless  they  work  spiritual  bene- 


The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent.  261 

fit  to  those  who  offer  thein.  And  thus  He  unites  our  duty 
and  His  blessing  together,  and  fills  us  with  grace  at  the 
same  time  that  He  receives  our  humble  offerings. 

There  are  three  blessings  connected  with  Lent  which  we 
ought  to  experience,  and  which  at  this  period  of  the  season 
we  should  ascertain  whether  we  have  begun  to  experience. 
The  first  is,  its  influence  upon  the  general  spirit  of  our 
character ;  upon  the  tone  of  our  feelings  as  Christians ; 
upon  the  atmosphere  which  surrounds  our  presence  and  de- 
portment. This  is  independent  of  its  effect  upon  any  per- 
sonal trait  of  character.  The  one  is  like  the  general  sun- 
shine which  spreads  itself  over  a  whole  landscape,  giving 
warmth  and  geniality  to  the  entire  scene  :  the  other  like 
the  rays  shining  upon  a  particular  point  of  it,  and  matur- 
ing the  fruit  which  is  ripening  for  the  Master's  use.  Each 
has  its  separate  purpose  and  its  separate  glory.  The  first 
is  intended  to  diffuse  itself  over  society,  and  to  impart  to  it 
a  softness  and  a  charity  which  are  the  true  manifestations 
of  Christianity :  the  last,  to  concentrate  itself  upon  our- 
selves, and  to  make  us  more  meet  for  that  presence  of  the 
Lord,  when  He  shall  come  as  our  Master,  and  call  us  home 
to  His  heart  and  His  service. 

A  long  and  continued  season  of  devotional  exercises 
ought  to  manifest  itself  in  our  whole  temper  and  presence. 
TVTien  Moses  came  down  from  Mount  Sinai,  after  his  long 
conference  with  God,  his  face  shone  so  that  he  was  obliged 
to  cast  a  veil  over  it  while  he  conversed  with  Aaron  and  the 
people.  When  our  Lord  was  transfigured  upon  the  Mount, 
His  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  His  raiment  was  white  as 
the  light.  And  the  Apostle  tells  us  that  "  we  all,  with  open 
face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are 
changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  1    These  are  the  effects  of  com- 

1  2  Cor.  iiL  18. 


262  The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent. 

munion  with  God,  of  dwelling  in  His  presence  in  spirit  and 
in  truth.  We  cannot  be  long  in  the  presence  of  a  fellow- 
creature  distinguished  for  virtue  and  nobleness,  without 
catching  something  of  the  tone  which  belongs  to  him : 
how  can  it  then  be  possible  for  us  to  commune  daily  and 
habitually  with  God  in  Christ,  without  drinking  in  some  of 
the  holy  influences  which  flow  down  from  His  gracious  pres- 
ence? If  we  have  sincerely  communed  with  Him  in 
prayer;  if  our  spirits  have  indeed  risen  up  to  Him  upon 
the  wings  of  praise  and  adoration ;  if  we  have  truly  sought 
unto  Him  in  our  silent  hours  of  meditation  and  thought : 
we  must  have  brought  away  from  these  conferences  and  this 
intercourse  something  of  the  divine  influence ;  there  must 
breathe  around  us  some  of  the  spiritual  atmosphere  which 
envelops  His  divine  Presence.  Neither  we  ourselves,  nor 
others,  could  exactly  say  what  it  consisted  in,  or  wherein 
it  was  particularly  exhibited :  and  yet  both  might  perceive 
and  acknowledge  it ;  —  a  more  cheerful  spirit ;  a  more  lov- 
ing temper;  a  diviner  charity;  a  more  manifest  holiness. 
Nothing  in  the  individual  has  changed :  the  manner  is  the 
same  ;  the  face  is  the  same  ;  the  voice  is  the  same ;  just  as 
all  the  features  of  the  landscape  are  the  same.  But  the 
sunshine  is  upon  the  one,  tinging  every  point  with  beauty 
and  holiness:  is  upon  the  other,  giving  a  softness  and  a 
gentleness  to  every  part  of  the  human  frame. 

This  is  the  first  blessing  of  frequent  religious  exercise ; 
and  I  would  ask  you,  my  fellow-Christians,  whether  the 
season  of  Lent,  so  far  as  it  has  gone,  has  produced  any  of 
this  effect  upon  you?  Are  you  conscious  of  having  re- 
ceived any  general  spiritual  benefit  from  your  frequent 
religious  exercises  ?  Is  there  with  you  a  deeper  glow 
of  spiritual  life  ?  Has  your  heart  been  sensibly  softened 
towards  man,  and  elevated  towards  God  ?  Has  there  come 
over  you  any  of  that  genial  glow,  which  makes  your  face 


The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent.  263 

to  shine  with  the  light  from  Heaven  ?  Has  there  been 
awakened  within  you  any  higher  aspiration  towards  holi- 
ness ?  Have  those  about  you  perceived  that  you  have  been 
dwelling  with  Jesus,  and  basking  in  the  sunshine  of  His 
Spirit  ?  These  are  the  results  of  a  general  kind  which 
ought  to  flow  from  a  continued  dwelling  in  the  Sanctuary, 
from  the  reaction  of  daily  prayer  and  meditation.  As  one 
has  beautifully  said  that  memory  was  the  echo  of  percep- 
tion, so  ought  holiness  to  be  the  echo  of  prayer  and  thanks- 
giving. To  give  ourselves  to  devotion,  and  to  exhibit  no 
results  as  the  fruit  of  it,  is  the  very  condition  in  which 
might  be  asked  of  you  the  question  of  my  text :  "  To  what 
purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto  me,  saith 
the  Lord  ?  " 

The  effect  of  Lent  upon  our  individual  sins  and  infirmi- 
ties is  the  second  blessing  which  we  should  expect  to  derive 
from  its  faithful  observance.  Every  one  of  us  has  some 
besetting  sin :  some  weakness,  some  frailty,  some  dark 
cloud  that  hangs  over  our  spiritual  life ;  something  that 
can  come  forth,  perhaps,  by  nothing  but  by  fasting  and 
prayer.  Are  we  endeavoring  to  bring  this  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  season  ?  Besides  the  general  blessing  of 
which  we  spoke  just  now,  are  we  striving  to  get  this  par- 
ticular trouble  under  our  control  ?  It  is  the  fly  in  the 
ointment,  which  is  disfiguring  its  beauty  and  marring  its 
sweetness  ;  it  is  the  discord  in  the  harmony,  which  puts 
every  thing  out  of  tune.  Our  spiritual  being  is  made  im- 
perfect by  it ;  and  our  influence  as  Christians  among  men 
is  marred  by  it.  It  is  some  infirmity  of  temper ;  some 
insubordination  of  tongue ;  some  out-cropping  of  lust  or 
covetousness ;  some  love  of  the  world  and  its  applause  ; 
some  affliction  to  which  we  cannot  be  reconciled ;  some  en- 
mity, or  jealousy,  or  injury ;  some  burden  of  unbelief.  It 
can  take  a  thousand  shapes,  and  molest  us  under  number- 


264  The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent 

less  disguises.  It  is  at  special  sins  like  these,  —  sins  of 
which  we  are  convinced,  and  over  which  we  mourn,  —  that 
we  should  particularly  strike,  at  this  season.  We  should 
make  their  subjugation,  if  not  their  extinction,  an  especial 
object.  We  should  strike  such  blows  at  them  as  they  could 
not  well  recover  from,  even  though  we  did  not  quite  extin- 
guish them.  What  a  glorious  result  it  would  be  of  our 
efforts,  if  at  the  close  of  this  Lent  we  could  feel  that  we 
had  subdued  some  tyrant  sin,  some  overpowering  infirmity, 
which  had  been  disturbing  us  all  through  our  Christian 
life !  And  thus  should  we  be  reaping  the  true  blessing  of 
the  occasion,  so  far  as  we  are  personally  concerned,  —  the 
deliverance  of  our  souls  from  that  thralldom  which  sin 
ever  inflicts,  and  the  introduction  of  them  into  that  true 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  alone  can  make  us  free. 

Have  we,  my  Christian  friends,  been  combating  sin  after 
this  fashion,  for  so  much  of  Lent  as  we  have  already  passed 
through  ?  Have  we  truly  discerned  our  besetting  sin,  and 
are  we  warring  against  it  with  heart  and  soul  ?  Or  have 
we  been  beating  the  air  uncertainly  ?  Have  we  been  going 
through  our  increased  services  without  a  purpose  ?  If,  so 
far,  you  have  been  looking  only  to  general  ends,  let  me  ad- 
vise you,  for  the  remainder  of  this  solemn  season,  to  keep 
some  special  end  in  view ;  to  have  some  particular  private 
matter  as  that  upon  which  your  supplications  and  interces- 
sions should  be  bent.  Besides  the  general  blessing  which 
will  flow  upon  you  from  the  faithful  observance  of  this  sea- 
son, strive  to  secure  some  individual  favor  from  God ;  and 
then  will  you  understand  the  value  of  such  an  arrangement 
as  the  Church  has  made  for  you  at  this  season. 

There  is  yet  another  blessing  which  you  should  endeavor 
to  secure  through  the  fasting  and  prayer  of  Lent,  and  that 
is,  the  favor  of  God  upon  His  Church  in  general,  and 
especially  upon  the  particular  congregation  to  which  you 


The  Spiritual  Uses  of  Lent,  265 

belong.  The  Church  has  just  passed  safely  through  a  great 
trial  and  has  come  out  of  it,  as  we  trust,  purified  and 
sanctified.  The  Law  of  Charity  has  been  triumphant,  and 
we  give  thanks  and  praise  that  the  Spirit  of  God  hath  made 
it  so.  Let  us  pray  that  this  greatest  of  all  graces  may  per- 
vade her  courts  more  thoroughly,  and  may  enter  into  our 
hearts,  leading  us  to  fulfill  that  new  commandment  which 
Christ  left  to  His  Disciples,  that  they  should  "  love  one  an- 
other." Let  us  pray  that  all  Christians  may  be  so  joined 
together  in  unity  of  spirit  and  in  the  bond  of  peace,  that 
they  may  be  an  holy  temple,  acceptable  unto  God.  And 
especially  let  us  supplicate  Him  to  give  to  this  congrega- 
tion here  present  the  abundance  of  His  grace,  that  with 
one  heart  they  may  desire  the  prosperity  of  His  Holy  Apos- 
tolic Church,  and  with  one  mouth  may  profess  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  Saints.  The  day  is  fast  coming  when 
we  shall  celebrate  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord ;  and  upon 
that  day  there  will  be  offered,  to  many  in  this  congregation, 
the  opportunity,  through  the  laying  on  of  hands,  of  rising 
from  the  death  of  sin  unto  the  life  of  righteousness.  Let 
us  pray  that  many  may  embrace  it :  and  that  they  may 
come  as  doves  to  their  windows,  bringing  to  God  that  sacri- 
fice which  He  loves  above  all  things,  —  a  broken  and  a  con- 
trite heart.  Of  such  sacrifices  He  will  never  ask  the  ques- 
tion of  my  text :  but  will  rejoice  over  them  with  that  joy 
which  fills  Heaven  when  one  sinner  comes,  with  true  re- 
pentance, and  casts  himself  for  mercy  at  the  foot  of  the 
Cross  !  Such  fruit  as  this  will  be  the  surest  proof  that  we 
have  kept  Lent  well,  and  will  be  the  sweetest  incense  that 
can  enter  into  the  presence  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 

1866. 


Talk  no  more  so  exceeding  proudly  ;  let  not  arrogancy  come  out  of 
your  mouth  :  for  the  Lord  is  a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by  him  ac- 
tions are  weighed.  —  i  Samuel  ii.  3. 

XT  is  neither  an  easy,  nor  yet  a  safe  thing,  to  read  the 
judgments  of  God  upon  individuals,  let  alone  upon 
nations.  The  more  complicated  the  subject  upon  whom 
the  judgment  is  inflicted,  —  the  more  the  relations  and 
contingencies  of  which  it  admits  :  the  more  difficult  is  it 
to  determine,  in  many  cases,  the  connection  between  it 
and  the  dealings  of  God.  But,  nevertheless,  there  are  such 
judgments  ;  and  there  are  many,  many  instances,  in  which 
the  connection  between  the  sin  of  the  people  and  the 
avenging  hand  of  the  Lord  is  so  plain,  that  it  strikes  at 
once  upon  the  moral  sense  of  the  land,  and  forces  from 
every  tongue  the  acknowledgment  of  that  connection.  So 
far  as  the  moral  feeling  of  the  country  has  yet  been  borne 
to  us,  in  view  of  the  successive  strokes  with  which  we  have 
been  visited,  it  is  wonderfully  unanimous  in  its  confession 
of  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  wonderfully  harmonious  in 
the  cause  to  which  it  ascribes  these  visitations.  All,  with 
one  accord,  lay  it  at  the  door  of  our  exceeding  pride  and 
arrogancy ;  and  therefore  we  utter  to  you,  to-day,  the 
words  of  the  Scripture,  words  spoken  in  view  of  the  ma- 
jesty and  supremacy  of  God :  "  Talk  no  more  so  exceed- 
ing proudly ;  let  not  arrogancy  come  out  of  your  mouth : 
for  the  Lord  is  a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by  him  actions 
are  weighed." 


Our  ATational  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting.  267 

This  is  the  great  lesson  which  we  need  to  learn.  —  to 
learn,  not  as  a  mere  thing  of  the  head,  but  to  learn  so  as  to 
believe  it,  and  feel  it  sensibly  affecting  our  lives.  —  "  that 
the  Lord  is  a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by  him  actions  are 
weighed."  As  individuals  we  do  not  realize  it  enough,  but, 
as  a  Nation,  we  do  not  recognize  it  at  all.  Because  we 
could  not  adopt  a  State  Religion,  it  almost  seems  as  if  we 
considered  ourselves  as  a  Xation  without  any  religion  at 
all  !  And  as  the  necessary  result  of  our  not  acknowledging 
God  in  Christ  as  a  people,  we  have  come  to  think  that  God 
will  not  —  nay,  has  no  right  to  —  interfere  in  our  concerns, 
either  in  the  way  of  mercies  or  judgments.  This  view, 
strange  as  it  may  sound,  is  much  more  nearly  the  truth 
than  one  would  imagine  who  has  not  weighed  it  well  ;  more 
nearly  the  truth,  because  it  is  merely  adopting  and  diffus- 
ing throuo'hout  the  mass  —  making'  that  general  which 
before  was  individual  —  the  common  opinion  of  irreligious 
men,  that  because  they  have  not  bound  themselves  to  God, 
in  His  Church,  by  direct  personal  vows,  they  are.  to  a  great 
degree,  exempt  from  those  spiritual  responsibilities  and 
spiritual  dealings  which  are  operative  between  God  and  His 
professing  people. 

But  this  is  a  sad  mistake,  both  as  it  regards  individuals, 
and  as  it  regards  a  Xation  :  —  sad,  because  it  leads,  in  both 
cases,  to  misery  and  ruin.  Whether  man,  in  his  personal 
or  in  his  social  capacity,  recognizes  or  forgets  his  God,  still 
is  He  —  and  no  ungodliness  of  His  creatures  can  ever  make 
it  otherwise  —  "a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by  him  actions 
are  weighed."  And  it  is  no  fault  of  His  that  His  creatures 
will  not  know  this  and  consider  it ;  for  besides  those  mani- 
fest strokes  of  His  wrath,  —  of  which  we  spake  just  now, 
and  which  the  Pagans  acknowledged  and  trembled  at,  — 
He  has  given  us  a  plain  account,  in  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures,  of  His  dealings  with  peoples  as  well  as  with 


268     Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting. 

individuals ;  with  nations  which  recognized  Him  not,  as 
well  as  with  those  whom  He  chose  and  guided  according 
to  the  purpose  of  His  own  will.  That  record  is  history 
written  by  the  finger  of  God ;  and  as  such  should  he  studied 
by  all  who  desire  to  understand  the  ways  of  God,  —  by  all 
who  are  not  satisfied  to  look  upon  history  merely  as  the 
relation  of  nation  to  nation,  but  as  a  narrative  of  all  the 
causes  which  operate  to  elevate  or  depress  a  people  in  the 
scale  of  things.  And  in  this  record  we  see  the  hand  and 
the  sword  of  the  Lord  forever  at  work,  dealing  righteous 
judgment  upon  the  right  hand  and  upon  the  left,  rooting 
out,  and  pulling  down,  and  destroying,  and  building,  and 
planting.1  Before  us  does  the  inspired  penman  make  all 
the  great  monarchies  of  the  earth  to  pass  in  review,  and 
upon  their  fate  sheds  a  divine  light,  which  the  spiritual 
mind  appreciates,  but  which  those  who  rule  nations,  for  the 
most  part,  scorn  and  ridicule.  And  as  if  to  leave  man  no 
excuse  for  disregarding  Him  in  the  affairs  of  nations,  He 
has  beforehand  written,  in  prophetic  characters,  the  history 
and  fate  of  many  of  them,  that,  when  it  came  to  pass,  men 
might  confess  His  hand;  and,  in  their  judgment  of  the 
causes  of  their  decline  and  fall,  mingle  His  will  and  pur- 
poses with  the  secondary  causes  that  have  operated  to  pro- 
duce the  effects  which  are  seen  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
But  this  will,  and  these  purposes  of  God,  men  will  not  take 
into  the  account,  even  when  the  event  has  fully  and  exactly 
verified  the  prophecy  :  but  will  rest  altogether  in  the  prox- 
imate causes  which  God  has  used  merely  as  His  means  and 
instruments,  showing  the  aversion  which  they  have  to  ac- 
knowledge His  immediate  interference  in  the  events  of  the 
world ;  and  removing,  at  the  same  time,  by  their  pertina- 
cious assertion  of  man's  free  agency,  the  most  plausible 
argument  wherewith  the  Devil  could  furnish  them  against 

i  Jer.  i.  10. 


Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting.  269 

turning  unto  the  Lord  as  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Uni- 
verse in  humiliation  and  prayer,  —  the  argument  of  an 
unchangeableness  in  the  Divine  decrees  ! 

If  we  believe  the  Bible,  then,  my  hearers,  we  must  be- 
lieve that  God  weigheth  the  actions  of  nations ;  for  it  is 
there  all  done  before  our  very  eyes,  and  His  judgment  upon 
those  actions  exhibited  and  executed.  If  we  believe  the 
Bible,  —  and  the  great  mass  of  the  people  throughout  this 
land  professes  to  believe  it,  —  we  can  resort  to  it  and  see, 
as  in  a  mirror,  the  sins  which  most  provoked  the  wrath  of 
Jehovah ;  and,  in  His  punishment  of  those  sins,  read  the 
fate  which  awaits  us,  if  we  indulge  ourselves  in  them. 
God's  ways  are  without  repentance  ;  and  the  sins  which  He 
hated  then,  He  hates  now ;  and  the  sins  which  He  pun- 
ished then,  will  He  punish  now.  The  like  pride  and  ar- 
rogancy  which  brought  down  the  stroke  of  His  sword  in 
those  days,  will  cause  it  to  descend  upon  us ;  and  we  shall 
writhe  under  it  until  we  confess  the  sin,  and  turn  aside  the 
wrath.  May  we  be  prudent  in  time,  as  a  Nation,  and  study 
those  records  which  can  make  us  wiser  than  all  ancients  or 
teachers  ! 1 

Among  the  sins  which  most  surely  brought  down  the 
vengeance  of  God  upon  individuals  and  peoples,  was  proud 
boasting  conspicuous.  It  was  one  of  those  national  ini- 
quities which  God  seems  never  to  have  passed  over.  When 
Pharaoh  said,  '-'Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I  should  obey  his 
voice  to  let  Israel  go  ?  I  know  not  the  Lord,  neither  will 
I  let  Israel  go :  " 2  he  was  soon  made  to  know  who  He  was, 
in  his  own  discomfiture  and  the  overthrow  of  his  hosts. 
When  Moses  had  brought  the  children  of  Israel  to  the  bor- 
ders of  the  land  of  promise,  and  was  pressing  upon  them 
his  dying  admonitions,  how  frequently  he  dwelt  upon  this 
theme  :  "  Beware,"  was  his  language,  "  lest  when  thou  hast 

1  Psalm  cxix.  98-100.  2  Y.xod.  v.  2. 


270     Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting. 

eaten  and  art  full,  and  hast  built  goodly  houses,  and  dwelt 
therein  ;  and  when  thy  herds  and  thy  flocks  multiply,  and 
thy  silver  and  thy  gold  is  multiplied,  and  all  that  thou  hast 
is  multiplied ;  then  thine  heart  be  lifted  up,  and  thou  forget 
the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  forth  out  of  the 

land  of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage;  and 

thou  say  in  thy  heart,  My  power  and  the  might  of  mine 
hand  hath  gotten  me  this  wealth."  And  if  they  did,  what 
was  the  doom  predicted  against  them  ?  "  As  the  nations 
which  the  Lord  destroyeth  before  your  face,  so  shall  ye 
perish !  " 1  And  when  David  numbered  the  people,  pro- 
voked to  it,  as  the  Scripture  tells  us,  by  Satan,  this  seem- 
ingly slight  reliance  upon  the  arm  of  flesh  brought  down 
the  displeasure  of  the  Lord  upon  Israel,  and  He  sent  pesti- 
lence upon  Israel,  "  and  there  fell  of  Israel  seventy  thousand 
men.  And  God  sent  an  angel  unto  Jerusalem  to  destroy  it : 
and  as  he  was  destroying,  the  Lord  beheld,  and  he  repented 
him  of  the  evil,  and  said  to  the  angel  that  destroyed,  It  is 

enough,  stay  now  thine  hand  And  David  lifted  up 

his  eyes,  and  saw  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stand  between  the 
earth  and  the  heaven,  having  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand, 
stretched  out  over  Jerusalem."  2  Although  God  had  led  up 
Sennacherib  against  Jerusalem,  yet  when  he  uttered  blas- 
phemous words  against  Him,  despising  God,  and  setting 
himself  above  Him,  saying  to  Hezekiah,  "  Let  not  thy  God, 
in  whom  thou  trustest,  deceive  thee,  saying,  Jerusalem 
shall  not  be  given  into  the  hand  of  the  King  of  Assyria. 
....  Have  the  gods  of  the  nations  delivered  them  which 
my  fathers  have  destroyed  9  " 3  his  answer  was  :  "  Whom 
hast  thou  reproached  and  blasphemed  ?  ....  By  thy  ser- 
vants hast  thou  reproached  the  Lord,  and  hast  said,  By  the 
multitude  of  my  chariots  am  I  come  up  to  the  height  of 
the  mountains,  to  the  sides  of  Lebanon ;  and  I  will  cut 

1  Dent.  viii.  11-20.         2  1  Chron.  xxi.  14-16-         8  Isaiah  xxxvii.  10,  12. 


Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting.  271 


down  the  tall  cedars  thereof,  and  the  choice  fir-trees 
thereof :  and  I  will  enter  into  the  height  of  his  border,  and 

the  forest  of  his  Carmel  Because  thy  rage  against 

me,  and  thy  tumult,  is  come  up  into  mine  ears,  therefore 
will  I  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips, 
and  I  will  turn  thee  back  by  the  way  by  which  thou  earn- 
est."1 And  in  like  manner,  everywhere  throughout  the 
Old  Testament,  is  this  sin  of  putting  confidence  in  flesh,  in 
our  own  arm,  in  horses  and  chariots,  instead  of  trusting  in 
the  arm  of  the  Lord,  visited  with  the  uniform,  unvarying 
displeasure  of  Jehovah.  "  The  Lord  thy  God  is  a  jeal- 
ous God,"  is  written  upon  every  event  of  that  most  awful 
record  of  God's  dealings  with  His  creatures  ! 

If  there  is  one  sin  more  than  another  for  which  we  stand 
conspicuous,  as  a  Nation,  it  is  this  sin  of  speaking'  exceed- 
ing proudly.  There  is  no  limit  to  our  vain  boasting !  If  it 
were  the  boasting  of  a  Christian  people,  rejoicing  because 
the  God  of  Israel  is  their  God,  because  the  Redeemer  prom- 
ised to  ages  and  generations  is  their  Saviour,  because  the 
laws  and  the  statutes  of  a  Holy  God  are  the  provisions  of 
their  moral  code,  because  all  the  blessings  which  Christian- 
ity fetches  in  her  train  are  richly  showered  upon  their 
heads  :  it  would  enter  as  sweet  incense  into  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  and  crown  us  and  our  children  with  a  lasting  and 
a  beneficial  prosperity.  But  such  is  not  our  boasting  !  It 
is  not  in  this  God  of  Israel  that  we  put  our  trust.  It  is 
not  in  this  Redeemer  that  we  rest  as  our  strong  tower  and 
house  of  defense.  It  is  not  in  the  lofty  morality  of  Jesus 
that  we  look  for  our  success.  It  is  not  in  the  ameliorations 
of  Christianity  that  we  triumph  and  exult.  No.  Our  idols 
are  our  political  institutions;  our  oracles  are  our  frail, 
short-sighted  fellow-creatures ;  our  tower  of  strength  is 
our  numbers  5  our  shield  is  the  immensity  of  our  domain, 

1  Isaiah  xxxrii.  23,  24,  29. 


272     Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting. 

and  the  vastness  of  our  resources ;  our  rule  of  life  is  a  tyr- 
annous public  opinion.  Every  day  is  the  ear  of  God  vexed 
with  the  arrogancy  of  our  mouths,  with  our  exceeding 
proud  talk.  Let  what  may  be  the  subject,  it  ends  in  self- 
glorification !  Our  public  speakers,  from  him  that  ad- 
dresses himself  to  his  fellow-citizens  of  the  same  parish,  to 
him  that  speaks  for  the  ears  of  a  Nation,  all  indulge  the 
same  exulting  strain ;  —  nay,  are  obliged  to  indulge  it,  for 
a  national  vanity  craves  it,  and  is  not  satisfied  without  it. 
And  worse,  the  pulpit  too,  that  which  should  humble  man 
perpetually  to  the  dust,  prostitutes  itself  to  the  same  vile 
flattery,  and  fears  to  speak  to  man  the  truths  which  he 
should  hear  and  feel,  if  peradventure  God  may  bless  them 
to  his  soul.  For  these  things  God  will  surely  visit.  Our 
sins  will  surely  find  us  out.  And  have  they  not  already 
found  us  out  ?  In  what  has  our  proud  boasting  of  the  per- 
fectibility of  human  nature  under  free  institutions  ended  ? 
In  our  being  the  by-word  of  the  world  as  repudiators  and 
faithless.  In  what  has  our  arrogant  talk  of  the  superior 
acuteness  of  our  people  resulted?  In  covering  the  land, 
from  the  one  end  to  the  other,  with  cunning  and  roguery. 
In  what  has  our  haughty  maintenance  of  the  freedom  of 
opinion  terminated  ?  In  every  man's  being  afraid  of  hav- 
ing any  opinion  of  his  own  ;  so  that  virtue  and  vice,  justice 
and  injustice,  morality  and  immorality,  stand  upon  the 
same  platform,  and  are  covered  over  with  the  same  mantle : 
and  that,  not  a  mantle  of  charity,  but  of  fear.  And  so 
will  it  go  on,  until  we  turn  from  these  vanities  to  serve  the 
living  God :  until  we  trust,  not  in  refuges  like  political 
institutions,  and  mortal  men,  and  public  opinion  ;  but  take 
the  arm  of  the  Lord  for  our  defense,  and  the  Word  of  the 
Lord  for  our  rule  of  life,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  for  our 
counsellor  and  guide.  Subject  after  subject  of  boasting 
will  be  snatched  from  us  by  the  withering  hand  of  the 


Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting,  273 

Almighty,  until  laws,  institutions,  country,  shall  all  be  min- 
gled in  one  common  ruin.  And  as  the  nations  which  the 
Lord  destroyed  before  our  face,  so  shall  we  perish. 

The  natural  effect  of  this  exceeding  proud  talk  is  begin- 
ning to  be  perceived  in  a  growing  contempt  for  the  Word 
of  God,  and  the  precepts  of  the  Bible.  Xo  allowance  is 
made  for  the  wisdom  of  a  Being  like  God,  who  sees  the  end 
from  the  beginning,  and  knows  the  effects  of  His  positive, 
as  well  as  His  moral  arrangements,  upon  the  characters  and 
conduct  of  His  creatures :  and  the  wisdom  of  a  people  so 
exceeding  wise,  as  we  are  eyeiy  day  told  that  we  are,  is  pre- 
ferred to  that  which  dictated  the  Bible,  and  promulged  its 
morals.  Xothing  is  bowed  to,  —  eyen  though  it  come  from 
the  Bible,  eyen  though  it  be  writ  there  with  a  pencil  of 
light,  —  unless  it  can  be  shown  to  be  accordant  with  a  lim- 
ited reason,  or  a  short-sighted  utilitarianism.  All  the  pos- 
itive institutions  of  religion  are  beginning  to  be  sneered  at. 
The  Sabbaths  are  polluted,  because  man  thinks  one  day  as 
good  as  another:  although  God  has  directly  commanded  its 
being  hallowed,  and  reckoned  it  among  the  chief  sins  of 
Israel,  as  ye  haye  heard  read  in  the  Scriptures  this  day,1 
that  they  were  not  kept  sacred.  The  Ministry  is  degraded, 
because  man  thinks  one  religious  person  is  as  good  as 
another  :  although  God  has  distinctly  set  apart  an  order  of 
men  for  that  yocatiou,  with  whom  He  promised  always  to 
be,  to  the  end  of  the  world ;  and  grieyously  punished  those 
who  assumed  its  functions,  under  that  dispensation  where 
immediate  rewards  and  punishments  testified  His  approba- 
tion or  disapprobation.  The  Sacraments  are  despised,  thou- 
sands going  to  their  graves  without  Baptism,  or  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Supper ;  because  man  thinks  faith  in  the  heart 
is  all  that  is  necessary :  although  Christ  has  said  :  "  Except 
a  man  be  bom  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter 

1  Ezek.  xx.  to  v.  27,  is  the  Morning  Lesson  for  the  3d  Sunday  in  Lent. 
18 


274     Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting. 

into  the  kingdom  of  God ;  "  1  and,  "  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in 
you."  2  And,  from  the  positive  institutions  of  the  Bible, 
be  assured  we  shall  very  soon  pass  over  to  the  moral  pre- 
cepts ;  —  nay,  have  we  not  already  assaulted  them  ?  —  and 
shall  pronounce  murder,  and  adultery,  and  theft,  not  such 
crying  sins  as  God  would  make  us  believe.  Alas  for  my 
country,  that  it  should  so  soon  have  run  to  such  crying 
corruption  !  Not  yet  a  century  old,  yet  vitiated  to  the  core 
with  unbelief  and  immorality ;  and  the  people  loving  to 
have  it  so ! 

Whereunto  will  all  this  come?  It  will  have  first,  my 
hearers,  —  unless  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  raise  a  standard 
against  the  overwhelming  flood,  —  a  natural  punishment ; 
and  then  be  visited  judicially  by  the  Lord.  These  are  two 
distinct  results ;  as  distinct  as  the  capital  punishment 
which  awaits  the  murderer  at  the  hands  of  the  law,  and 
the  remorse  of  conscience  which  he  suffers  as  the  natural 
consequence  of  his  crime.  The  spirit  of  pride,  leading  to 
unbelief,  to  self-confidence,  to  a  reliance  upon  human  wis- 
dom and  natural  virtue,  will  very  soon  cover  the  country 
with  the  fruits  of  infidelity,  and  the  works  of  the  flesh,  — 
with  lawlessness,  with  adultery,  with  fornication,  with  un- 
ci can  n  ess,  with  lasciviousness,  with  hatred,  variance,  strife, 
envyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  and  such  like :  until  all 
virtuous  persons  shall  feel  that  the  natural  punishment  is 
so  sore,  they  will  long  and  pray  for  a  judicial  visitation  of 
the  Lord,  to  purify  and  cleanse  the  foulness  which  is  all 
about  them.  And  it  will  come,  in  some  shape  or  other, 
"  for  the  Lord  is  a  God  of  knowledge,  and  by  him  actions 
are  weighed,"  —  in  just  such  shape  as  shall  be  most  humil- 
iating to  us,  as  shall  cast  our  pride  and  our  arrogancy  to 
the  dust.    God  is  not  satisfied  that  evils  shall  run  only  to 

i  S.  John  iii.  5.  2  Ibid.  vi.  53. 


Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting.  275 

tlieir  natural  results.  Upon  those  results  He  superinduces, 
in  all  the  arrangements  of  His  punishments,  a  positive 
wrath,  which  will  fall  in  judgment  upon  those  whose 
actions  He  has  weighed,  unless  they  deprecate  His  wrath 
and  turn  away  His  fury.  Although,  for  the  moment,  we 
see  not  that  wrath  gathering  around  us,  still  all  actions  are 
open  before  His  eyes,  all  actions  are  weighed  in  His  bal- 
ances —  the  balances  of  the  sanctuary ;  and  when  the  sins 
of  the  people  are  filled  up,  the  sword  descends,  and  they 
find  the  word  "  Tekel  "  written  against  them  :  "  Thou  art 
weighed  in  the  balances,  and  art  found  wanting."  1 

That  such  may  not  be  our  fate,  let  us  strive  and  pray,  my 
beloved  fellow-Christians  !  What  should  we  do  in  an  emer- 
gency like  this,  —  an  emergency  pressing  every  day  more 
aud  more  upon  us,  —  but  cry  unto  the  Lord  for  help  ?  Al- 
though the  prophecy  had  gone  forth  against  Xineveh,  yet 
when  the  people  turned  unto  the  Lord  with  all  their  heart, 
in  repentance,  and  in  sackcloth,  God  forgave  them  the 
wickedness  of  their  sin,  and  removed  His  avenging  angel 
from  over  them.  Although  He  had  led  up  the  Assyrians 
against  Jerusalem,  yet  when  His  servant  turned  unto  Him 
in  earnest  prayer,  He  sent  His  sword  into  the  midst  of  his 
ouemies,  and  delivered  him.  Let  us  turn  in  like  manner 
now.  We  know  not  what  may  be  overhanging  us.  We 
know  not  what  the  Lord,  whose  eyes  run  to  and  fro  in  the 
earth,  has  seen  in  us  for  punishment  and  wrath.  Our  con- 
sciences fain  tell  us  that  He  has  seen  enough !  His  succes- 
sive strokes  upon  our  rulers  tell  us  that  He  has  seen 
enough  !  Let  us  take  warning  from  these  glimpses  which 
we  have  had  of  His  glittering  sword!  If  the  gleam  of 
that  sword  be  so  awful,  what  must  be  its  full  vengeance, 
when  it  is  poured  out  in  fury  upon  a  people  ?  God  avert  it 
from  us ! 

1  Dan.  v.  27. 


276     Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting. 

But  "  in  vain  shall  we  pray,  if  we  do  nothing/'  says  old 
Bishop  Hall.  "  Onr  prayers  serve  only  to  testify  the  truth 
of  our  desires ;  and  to  what  purpose  shall  we  pretend  a  de- 
sire of  that,  which  we  endeavor  not  to  effect  ?  "  Let  us  be- 
g-in the  remedy.  Let  us  "talk  no  more  so  exceeding  proudly. 
Let  not  arrogancy  come  out  of  our  mouths."  Let  us  clear 
our  skirts,  at  least,  of  this  vain  boasting,  of  which  the 
country  is  so  guilty.  Ten  righteous  men  in  Sodom  would 
have  saved  it ;  and  a  few  determined  Christians  may  avert 
the  wrath  of  the  Almighty  from  this  land.  Will  you 
be  these  Christians  ?  Will  you  humble  yourselves  before 
God,  and  give  Him  the  praise  and  the  glory  of  all  the  good 
which  we  enjoy,  and  take  to  yourselves  the  shame  and  the 
confusion  of  face  which  belong  to  the  guilty  ?  If  ye  will, 
that  humiliation  will  give  power  to  your  prayers,  and  earn- 
estness to  your  endeavors.  If  ye  will,  ye  may  set  an  exam- 
ple that  shall  bless  your  homes  for  ages  to  come. 

One  question  more :  Will  ye  add  to  this  prayer  and  this 
humiliation,  a  Scriptural  view  of  vice?  Ah,  my  hearers, 
we  are  all  guilty  in  this  particular,  calling  good,  evil,  and 
evil,  good,  —  sweet,  bitter,  and  bitter,  sweet.  We  do  not 
make  the  distinctions  which  we  should  do,  in  our  conversa- 
tion, in  our  actions,  in  our  social  intercourse,  between  vir- 
tue and  vice.  Besides  the  punishment  upon  vice  where- 
with God  has  promised  to  visit  it,  there  is  a  punishment 
which  Society  is  bound  to  inflict,  —  sternly  to  inflict,  —  else 
will  that  Society  itself  reap  the  bitter  fruits  of  its  neglect ! 
Every  crime  which  Society  lightly  passes  over,  is,  in  so  far, 
encouraged  by  Society ;  for  ofttimes  the  severest  punish- 
ment of  vice  is  the  social  punishment.  Man  can  often  bet- 
ter bear  death,  than  the  stern  severity  of  the  social  circle : 
but  that  severity  is  needful,  until  repentance  and  a  sufficient 
probation  shall  have  again  opened  the  door  for  the  re-ad- 
mission of  the  contrite  penitent.    But  the  impenitent  sin- 


Our  National  Sin  of  Proud  Boasting,  277 

ner  should  be  frowned  from  its  ranks.  Its  doors  should  be 
closed  in  his  face,  as  the  virtue  of  our  own  firesides  is  re- 
garded !  His  name  should  never  cross  the  lips  of  the  vir- 
tuous, save  for  reprobation,  or  for  prayer.  Hear,  Chris- 
tian, what  the  Epistle  for  the  day  prescribes  as  your  duty  : 
"  And  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  dark- 
ness, but  rather  reprove  them.  For  it  is  a  shame  even  to 
speak  of  those  things  which  are  done  of  them  in  secret."  1 
Is  this  so  ?  See  to  it  that  it  be  so :  for  if  it  be  not,  God 
will  draw  His  sword  against  the  righteous  and  the  wicked 
together,  and  then  shall  it  not  return  into  its  scabbard ! 

1844. 

1  Ephes.  v.  11,  12. 


Cttenty'gitfJ)  Sermon 


And  the  multitudes  that  went  before,  and  that  followed,  cried,  say- 
ing, Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David :  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord;  Hosanna  in  the  highest.  —  S.  Matthew 
xxi.  9. 

rilHE  entry  of  our  Saviour  into  Jerusalem,  described  in 
our  text  and  in  the  parallel  passage  of  S.  Luke,  seems, 
to  imaginations  filled  with  false  ideas  of  glory,  to  have  been 
a  very  mean  and  paltry  affair.  A  meek  and  humble  Man, 
clothed  in  the  every-day  garb  of  the  country,  seated  upon  a 
colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass,  appears  but  a  poor  representative 
of  royalty,  preceded  and  followed  though  He  was  by  multi- 
tudes heralding  His  approach.  Accustomed  as  the  world  is 
to  imperial  processions  very  different  from  this,  it  cannot 
associate  greatness  except  with  pomp  and  ostentation. 
There  must  be  tinsel,  there  must  be  show,  there  must  be 
something  to  strike  upon  the  senses,  ere  even  the  most  ed- 
ucated and  refined  among  us  can  be  satisfied  that  we  are  in 
contact  with  something  above  ourselves.  Although  the 
mighty  works  of  God,  the  most  truly  sublime  with  which 
our  experience  has  made  us  acquainted,  have  been  per- 
formed with  a  severe  and  studied  simplicity,  —  although  all 
the  mighty  processes  of  Nature,  processes  confined  not  to 
this  world  but  pervading  the  whole  universe  of  God,  are  car- 
ried on  with  a  quiet  harmony  which  keeps  us  almost  uncon- 
scious of  their  action,  —  so  unstrung  are  all  our  conceptions 
of  things  that  we  pass  by  this  natural  and  therefore  true  law 
which  has  been  impressed  upon  the  works  of  creation  and 


Christ's  Triumphal  Entry.  279 


Providence,  and  frame  one  for  ourselves,  which  shall  be 
more  vulgar,  and  therefore  better  adapted  to  an  uncrowned 
and  disordered  manhood.  When  God  would  dispel  darkness, 

—  would  usher  into  being  that  agent  which  was  to  clothe 
the  world  with  beauty,  —  He  merely  spake  the  word,  "  Let 
there  be  Light :  "  and  "  there  was  Light."  When  He  would 
bring  order  out  of  chaos,  and  wake  into  existence  the  vast 
succession  of  beings  that  people  His  universe,  "  He  com- 
manded," says  the  Psalmist,  "and  they  were  created." 
And  now,  how  simply  and  yet  how  gloriously  does  the  uni- 

»  verse  roll  on,  obeying'  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades,  — 
night  and  day,  winter  and  summer,  seed-time  and  harvest 
following  in  their  appointed  times  !  But  because  we  only 
feel  their  blessings,  and  their  unostentatious  grandeur  is 
not  made  to  strike  upon  our  senses,  the  lesson  which  they 
should  teach  is  unobserved,  and  fails  to  bring  us  back  to 
the  divine  idea  of  glory.  And  therefore  when  He  makes 
the  advent  of  His  Son  to  be  of  a  piece  with  all  His  works, 

—  grand  in  its  simplicity,  and  its  grandeur  only  seen  when 
its  vast  influence  and  its  eternal  blessings  are  displayed,  — 
man  cannot  reconcile  it  with  his  distorted  conceptions,  but 
turns  into  an  argument  for  unbelief  that  which  most  strik- 
ingly proves  that  the  coming  of  Christ  was  not  an  im- 
posture of  man,  but  an  ordinance  of  God,  rising  quietly, 
grandly,  sublimely  upon  a  world  of  darkness  and  of  sin. 

This  entrance  of  our  Saviour  into  Jerusalem,  was  no 
more  humble  than  all  the  other  visible  accompaniments 
of  our  Saviour's  coming.  He  was  humble  in  His  birth,  — 
a  carpenter's  reputed  son,  and  born  and  cradled  in  a  man- 
ger. He  was  humble  in  His  training,  —  growing  up  among 
obscure  people  in  the  land  of  Galilee.  He  was  humble  in 
His  life,  —  poor,  separate  from  sinners,  having  not  where  to 
lay  His  head.  He  was  humble  in  His  followers,  —  a  few 
fishermen  of  His  reputed  country  forming  His  retinue,  and 


280  Christ's  Triumphal  Entry. 

His  worshippers  coming'  from  the  ranks  of  the  despised  and 
the  unclean.  He  was  humble  in  His  language,  - —  speaking" 
the  words  of  gentleness,  of  meekness,  of  mercy,  of  charity. 
To  have  cast  off  all  this  at  once,  —  to  have  put  on  His  di- 
vine glory,  and  to  have  entered  Jerusalem  with  royal  pomp, 

—  should  have  been  altogether  inharmonious,  should  have 
been  to  have  confounded  the  glory  of  His  Second  Coming 
with  the  humility  of  His  first.  He  was  to  appear  before  the 
world  as  the  antitype  and  complement  of  all  God's  works, 

—  as  His  sublimest  mystery,  and  most  perfect  glory ;  and 
was  therefore  to  exhibit  in  Himself  all  the  marks  of  the  1 
Divine  method  of  proceeding:  and  this,  above  all,  of  mani- 
festing greatness  not  through  that  which  dazzles,  but 
through  that  which  blesses,  —  not  by  an  encouragement 
of  human  pride,  but  by  sanctifying  virtue,  and  making  that 
the  greatness  of  the  earth  beneath  as  it  is  of  the  Heavens 
above ! 

As  the  true  greatness  of  our  Saviour's  mission  was  to 
consist  in  transferring,  through  His  atonement  and  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  man's  idea  of  human  excellence 
from  outward  appearances  to  inward  holiness,  it  was  not 
only  of  a  piece  with  God's  sublimest  works  that  He  should 
come  simply  and  unostentatiously  before  the  world :  but  it 
was  likewise  necessary  that  He  should  embody  the  lowliness 
which  He  had  come  to  teach.  Had  He  been  a  mere  man, 
the  simpleness  of  life  and  the  meekness  of  carriage  which 
distinguished  Him  should  not  have  been  half  so  striking  as 
when,  proving  perpetually,  although  only  by  glimpses,  that 
He  was  u  the  Son  of  God  with  power,"  He  yet  maintained 
it  as  the  rule  of  His  life  and  the  legacy  of  His  disciples. 
There  was  no  necessity  laid  upon  Him  that  He  should  thus 
live  and  thus  die.  It  was  a  voluntary  self-denial,  from  the 
cradle  to  the  Cross !  "  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now  pray 
to  my  Father,"  was  His  rebuke  to  Peter  when  that  disciple 


Christ's  Triumphal  Entry.  281 

would  have  defended  Him  with  the  sword,  "  and  he  shall 
presently  give  me  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels  ?  " 
But  how  then  should  His  great  mission  have  been  fulfilled, 
of  being  the  Exemplar  of  life  for  those  who  could  not  com- 
mand the  heavens  to  pour  out  its  embattled  legions  P  He 
was  to  teach  the  world  how  to  be  truly  great,  and  that  was 
not  by  encircling  Himself  with  the  glory  of  His  Father's 
kingdom  —  which  was  to  be  the  manifestation  when  the 
economy  of  grace  was  ended,  —  but  by  exhibiting  those 
qualities  of  heart  which  were  afterwards  to  be  called  "  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit/'  —  love,  peace,  long  suffering,  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  — under  circumstances  in  which  they  should 
be  His  only  claims  to  glory.  What  the  world  would  call  a 
lowly  life,  —  lowly  in  all  its  phases  and  accompaniments,  — 
was  the  chosen  life  of  Jesus.  He  humbled  Himself,  —  put 
away  His  glory  that  it  might  not  impede  His  purpose,  — 
and  in  every  act  of  His  brief  life  on  earth,  was  teaching  us 
that  all  that  God  called  great  lay  in  the  soul,  and  that  when 
He  should  come  a  second  time  in  His  power,  He  should  not 
take  to  His  glory  the  mighty  of  the  world,  but  those  who 
had  not  been  ashamed  to  tread  in  His  footsteps  of  lowly 
virtue  and  sanctified  holiness. 

Those,  therefore,  seem  to  me  to  be  entirely  at  fault,  who 
would  use  this  humble  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God  while 
on  earth,  as  an  argument  against  His  divinity.  It  is,  to 
my  mind,  one  of  the  very  strongest  in  its  favor.  The  sim- 
ple yet  sublime  grandeur  of  His  whole  demeanor  is  so  in 
harmony  with  all  that  we  know  of  the  character  and  ac- 
tions of  God,  that  it  points  Him  out,  to  the  spiritual  eye,  as 
the  image  of  His  Father's  glory.  And  then  that  total  dis- 
regard of  all  human  views,  — that  trampling  under  foot  of 
all  human  pride,  — that  new  aspect  which  He  put  upon  life 
when  He  lavished  the  blessings  of  God  upon  the  poor  in 
spirit,  upon  the  meek,  upon  the  pure  in  heart,  upon  the 


282  Christ's  Triumphal  Entry. 

merciful,  —  that  sanctity  with  which  His  example  has  in- 
vested poverty  and  sorrow  and  humility,  —  that  new  ideal 
of  glory  which  He  has  impressed  upon  the  world :  all  sep- 
arated Him,  by  an  immeasurable  distance,  from  every  other 
who  has  assumed  the  character  of  a  divine  teacher.  But 
if  any  should  fail  to  see,  in  these  things,  the  marks  of  His 
divinity,  let  me  show  them  that  while  the  advent  of  Christ 
was  ushered  in  quietly  and  unostentatiously  to  the  vulgar 
eye,  and  while  His  presence  was  unmarked  save  by  its  bless- 
ings :  it  was  preceded  by  a  chain  of  the  grandest  evidence 
which  has  ever  been  piled  together,  and  followed  by  an  in- 
fluence which  has  revolutionized  the  world  in  its  feelings, 
its  habits,  its  hopes,  its  religion. 

If  one  were  asked  to  arrange  evidence  for  such  a  fact  as 
the  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God  upon  earth,  he  would 
say,  that  the  most  striking  proof  of  this  mission  would  be 
His  descent  from  Heaven  in  august  pomp,  so  that  there 
might  be  no  mistake  about  His  divine  character  and  mis- 
sion. This  would  seem  to  be  such  testimony  as  would  sat- 
isfy anybody.  Now,  passing  by  altogether  the  entire  over- 
throw that  this  would  be  of  the  principle  of  Faith  upon 
which  Christianity  is  founded,  and  the  complete  change  it 
would  produce  in  the  Christian  probation,  it  must  be,  after 
the  extinction  of  the  generation  which  witnessed  this  de- 
scent, only  the  testimony  of  tradition,  which  soon  becomes 
the  vaguest  and  weakest  of  all  evidence.  Our  Lord  must 
descend  from  Heaven  for  every  generation  of  men,  or  else 
the  testimony,  which,  at  first  sight,  seemed  so  desirable  and 
so  complete,  would  soon  vanish,  and  leave  no  impress  be- 
hind. For  a  mission  like  that  of  our  Saviour,  which  was 
to  embrace  in  its  benefits  all  people  and  all  time,  the  evi- 
dence must  be  peculiar  and  permanent.  It  must  have  a 
local  habitation,  so  that  it  should  not  be  lost  amid  the  rise 
and  decay  of  nations,  amid  the  migrations  of  people,  in 


Christ's  Triumphal  Entry.  283 

the  confusion  and  desolations  of  war  :  while  it  should  be  of 
a  diffusive  character,  capable  of  exhibition  and  appliance  to 
the  furthest  extremities  of  the  world.  While  it  should  have 
its  central  shrine,  it  should  also  have  its  temples,  wherein 
man  might  reason  and  be  satisfied,  wherever  man  should 
exist  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  should  likewise  be 
germinaDt  evidence,  such  as  should  produce  its  blade  at  one 
period,  its  blossom  at  another,  its  rich  clusters  of  fruit  in 
the  fullness  of  times.  It  should  be  massive  evidence,  such 
as  man  could  neither  create  nor  destroy,  increasing  in  its 
momentum  as  the  world  rolled  on  in  years.  It  should  be 
permanent  evidence,  written  upon  the  face  of  Nature,  as 
well  as  upon  the  history  of  nations  and  in  the  literature  of 
a  chosen  people.  Such  evidence  as  this  should  be  as  much 
above  the  direct  testimony  of  a  visible  and  glorious  descent 
once  made  in  the  face  of  the  world,  as  the  daily  rising  of 
the  sun  and  shining  in  our  very  eyes  would  be  a  better  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  light,  than  any  traditional  testi- 
mony which  might  come  to  us  of  its  creation.  Well,  such 
grand  evidence  has  Christianity.  Judea  is  its  central 
shrine,  the  hallowed  spot  around  which  has  circled  the  his- 
tory of  the  world;  from  which,  when  Christ  had  come, 
floated  upon  the  wings  of  the  everlasting  Gospel  to  every 
nation  and  kindred  and  people,  the  evidence  of  his  Messiah- 
ship.  And  that  evidence  has  found  belief  everywhere,  has 
built  temples  everywhere,  has  made  its  home  in  the  human 
heart  everywhere,  and  that  because  of  its  nature.  It  had 
in  it  qualities  which  fitted  it  for  minds  of  every  cast,  which 
adapted  it  to  temperaments  of  every  degree.  If  one  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  traditional  testimony  of  miracles,  he 
could  find  rest  for  his  spirit  in  that  wonderful  train  of 
prophecies  which  has  been  fulfilling  through  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  world,  and  is  still  fulfilling  under  his  very  eyes. 
If  the  appearance  of  our  Lord  in  His  condition  of  humility 


284  Christ's  Triumphal  Entry, 

upon  earth  was  distasteful  to  the  conceptions  of  a  man  of 
peculiar  mind,  he  might  find  contentment  for  his  aspiring 
thoughts,  that  around  the  cradle  of  that  Child  earth's 
greatest  nations  had  been  made  to  play  their  parts  and  fulfill 
their  destiny.  If  one  should  doubt  the  records  of  the  peo- 
ple of  whom,  according  to  the  flesh,  Christ  came,  God  has 
stamped  the  corroboration  of  their  testimony  upon  the  face 
of  the  very  earth  which  they  once  trod,  and  upon  the  char- 
acter of  the  nations  which  encompassed  them.  And  if  all 
of  these  should  fail  to  convince,  there  is  evidence  likewise 
for  the  conscience,  and  the  divine  truth  of  the  Scriptures  is 
made  to  pierce  into  its  very  recesses,  and  wring  thence  the 
confession  of  the  Samaritan  woman,  —  He  "  told  me  all 
things  that  ever  I  did."  Every  shape  which  evidence  could 
take,  has  the  evidence  for  Christianity  assumed;  and  if 
human  nature  cannot  detect  the  greatness  of  our  Lord 
under  the  garb  of  His  lowliness,  cannot  see  the  divinity 
breaking  forth  from  beneath  the  shroud  of  His  humanity, 
he  may,  at  least,  find  food  for  his  admiration  in  the  wonder- 
ful tissue  of  proof  which  the  Living  God  has  woven  to- 
gether in  richest  harmony  for  the  identification  of  His  Son. 
He  could  not  put  upon  Him  the  vulgar  greatness  of  pomp 
and  show,  for  that  should  have  been  alien  from  His  nature 
and  works,  and  subversive  of  the  lessons  He  was  to  teach 
the  world  :  but  He  could  make  Him,  in  His  lowliness,  the 
focus  of  all  the  action  of  the  world ;  in  His  Crucifixion,  the 
radiating  point  for  all  its  blessings  ! 

We  are  told  by  the  Evangelist  that  the  multitudes  which 
went  before  and  that  followed,  cried  "  Hosanna  to  the  son 
of  David  :  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord ;  Hosanna  in  the  highest."  And  these  voices  were  but 
the  commencement  of  that  unceasing  chorus  which  has 
ever  since  been  swelling  up  from  the  earth  re-echoing  these 
hosannas,  and  which  will  go  on  increasing  until  it  is 


Christ's  Triumphal  Entry.  285 

merged  in  that  triumphant  song*  of  "  Blessing  and  honor 
and  glory  "  which  shall  eternally  roll  through  the  Heavens. 
And  this,  my  hearers,  is  another  direction  in  which  God  has 
manifested  the  greatness  of  His  Son,  in  that  the  influence 
of  His  divine  mission  has  heen  felt  and  shall  he  forever 
felt  wherever  there  is  a  wounded  spirit  or  a  sorrowing  heart 
or  a  guilty  conscience  among  the  children  of  men.  The 
noble  and  the  mighty  and  the  prosperous  may  not  have 
acknowledged  it,  because  they  have  been  offended  at  the 
ideal  of  greatness  upon  which  it  required  that  they  should 
dress  themselves  :  but  the  multitudes  of  the  earth,  like  the 
multitudes  of  Jerusalem,  have  ever  recognized  in  Jesus 
their  Friend,  their  Deliverer,  their  Saviour.  For  them  — 
the  humble,  the  lowly,  the  oppressed,  the  weak  —  has  His 
coming  been  the  harbinger  of  good.  Their  humility  has 
He  exalted  5  their  lowliness  has  He  sanctified ;  their  weak- 
ness has  He  changed  into  power ;  the  chains  of  their  op- 
pression, whether  chains  of  ignorance,  or  passion,  or  lust, 
or  power,  has  He  broken  asunder.  His  example  has  nerved 
the  hearts  of  myriads  to  labor  and  to  suffer  for  their  bless- 
ing. His  teaching  has  purified  the  conscience  of  the  world 
so  that  oppression  and  crime  are  rebuked,  abashed,  even 
though  they  be  not  destroyed.  His  death  has  opened  the 
portals  of  Heaven,  and  brought  down  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
dwell  with  them  as  their  Guide,  their  Sanctifier,  their  abid- 
ing Comforter !  To  Him  are  temples  raised  in  every  land 
and  by  every  people.  At  His  name  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  knees  are  bent,  and  voices  which  no  man  can 
number  confess  the  power  of  His  presence.  Under  His 
eternal  wings  are  clustered  the  contrite,  and  the  penitent, 
and  the  returning  prodigal.  To  Him  the  mourning  flee  for 
comfort,  and  the  sinful  for  pardon,  and  the  dying  for  im- 
mortality !  Unbelief  may  suggest  its  doubts.  Wickedness 
may  hurl  its  taunts.    The  scoffer's  laugh  and  the  skeptic's 


286  Christ's  Triumphal  Entry. 

sneer  may  grate  upon  the  harmony  of  a  ransomed  world. 
But  they  can  avail  nothing  against  the  multitudes  who 
strew  the  path  of  His  glory  with  their  offerings,  and  cry 
with  the  earnestness  of  ransomed  joy:  "Blessed  is  He 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  Hosanna  in  the 
highest." 

By  those  who  have  opposed  the  religion  of  Jesus  this  has 
been  styled  the  voice  of  ignorance,  —  a  clamor  raised  and 
cherished  by  priests  and  hirelings,  whose  interest  it  has 
been  to  keep  alive  this  shout  of  divine  praise.  It  is  the  voice 
of  suffering  humanity,  rejoicing  in  the  coming  of  its  great 
Deliverer ;  recognizing  in  His  life  and  sufferings  the  very 
Saviour  whom  they  needed,  one  who  might  be  touched  with 
a  feeling  of  their  infirmities.  The  multitudes  of  the  earth 
—  for  such  are  the  poor  and  the  lowly  —  do  not  ask  for  cold 
philosophy  or  abstract  teachings.  They  ask  for  sympathy, 
for  the  voice  of  compassion,  and  the  hand  of  relief!  A 
Saviour  who  should  have  come  to  them  in  the  garb  of 
wealth,  or  with  the  pomp  of  power,  should  have  been  sep- 
arated from  them  by  all  the  conventionalities  of  life  and  the 
associations  of  the  world.  But  when  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus  enters  their  homes  of  poverty  and  suffering,  simple  in 
His  dress,  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,  His 
heart  yearning  with  love,  and  His  hand  mighty  to  save  and 
mighty  to  relieve;  they  spring  to  meet  him,  and  shout, 
"  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David :  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  Hosanna  in  the  Highest."  What 
care  they  for  evidence  ?  They  have  the  evidence  of  a  yearn- 
ing heart,  that  this  is  the  Saviour  of  their  necessity! 
What  care  they  for  cavillers  ?  They  are  immovable  as  the 
blind  man  in  the  Gospel,  and  their  cry  is :  "  One  thing 
I  know,  that  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  What  care 
they  that  He  did  not  put  on,  while  incarnate,  His  divine 
glory  ?    They  feel  that  His  greatness  in  Love,  in  Mercy,  in 


Christ's  Triumphal  Entry.  287 

Charity,  in  Forgiveness,  in  Kedemption,  is  far  more  to 
them  than  the  pomp  which  has  ground  them  to  the  dust, 
and  the  power  which  has  forged  the  fetters  of  their  dark- 
ness ! 

The  greatness  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  must,  you  per- 
ceive, my  hearers,  be  looked  for  somewhere  else  than  in 
any  vulgar  parade  as  king  or  conqueror  while  on  earth. 
If  you  search  for  it,  you  will  find  it  in  many  directions,  but 
never  taking  this  shape.  The  salvation  which  is  through 
Christ  is  a  great  salvation,  but  never  in  the  sense  of  worldly 
greatness.  It  is  great,  as  having  been  the  great  mystery 
of  heaven  from  the  beginning,  —  that  which  angels  desired 
to  penetrate.  It  is  great,  as  having  brought  from  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  and  shrouded  in  human  form,  His 
only  begotten  Son,  the  glory  of  His  Father  and  the  express 
image  of  His  person.  It  is  great,  as  having  been  the 
charmed  centre,  around  which  every  thing  in  creation  has 
been  made  to  turn.  It  is  great,  in  that  nature,  and  na- 
tions, and  men,  and  angels,  and  devils,  have  all  been  con- 
strained to  form  its  chain  of  evidence.  It  is  great,  because 
an  influence  has  gone  out  from  the  Cross  of  the  Crucified 
which  has  changed  the  world,  and  turned  it  from  idols  to 
serve  the  living  God.  It  is  great,  because  it  is  silently  roll- 
ing on  to  its  consummation,  and  is  moulding  every  thing  to 
the  purposes  of  God's  will.  But  none  of  these  are  effects 
which  the  world  cares  about.  There  is  nothing  dazzling 
about  them.  They  are  slow  in  their  operation,  silent  in 
their  progress,  natural  in  their  course,  gradual  in  their 
effects.  Generation  succeeds  generation,  without  much 
apparent  result ;  and  yet  when  those  generations  have 
waxed  into  centuries,  the  world  is  seen  to  have  grown  in 
the  extent  of  its  Christianity,  and  in  the  power  of  its  influ- 
ence. Three  centuries  ago,  and  this  whole  continent  was 
in  the  darkness  of  Paganism :  and  to-day  its  citizens  stand 


288  Christ's  Triumphal  Entry, 

among  the  foremost  as  the  worshippers  of  Christ  and  the 
heralds  of  His  salvation.  Five  centuries  since,  and  Chris- 
tianity was  limited  to  a  single  continent,  and  that  corrupted 
to  its  core  :  to-day  there  is  no  isle  nor  continent  where  the 
name  Jesus  is  not  preached,  and  His  example  followed  by 
faithful  disciples  who  for  His  name  and  glory's  sake  are 
content  to  be  lowly,  and  abased,  and  poor,  and  humble, 
and  suffering  !  Eighteen  centuries  ago,  and  ail  there  was 
of  Christianity  clustered  around  the  Cross  of  the  dying  Naz- 
arene  :  to-day,  and  voices  of  every  kindred  and  nation  and 
tongue  and  people  are  joining  in  the  loud  Hosanna, 
"  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

And  will  not  you,  my  people,  speed  on  this  glorious 
cause?  Will  you  not  join  in  this  shout  of  the  rejoicing 
multitude,  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,"  and  strew  your 
offerings  under  His  advancing  footsteps  ?  His  greatness 
it  is,  which  has  made  your  homes  to  be  circles  of  refinement 
and  of  virtue,  of  lofty  culture  and  pure  devotion.  His 
greatness  it  is,  which  has  bound  your  firesides  together 
with  the  bond  of  immortality,  and  made  your  love  undying. 
His  greatness  it  is,  which  has  given  to  woman  her  holy  in- 
fluence, and  transformed  her  from  a  plaything  and  a  slave 
into  the  wise  mother,  the  virtuous  wife,  the  loving  child. 
Great  our  Lord  may  not  have  seemed  to  be  to  the  eye  of 
sense,  when  born  in  Bethlehem,  or  fleeing  into  Egypt,  or 
wandering  through  Samaria  and  Galilee,  or  riding  into 
Jerusalem  upon  an  ass,  or  agonizing  in  Gethsemane,  or 
bound  before  the  judgment  seat,  or  dying  on  Calvary  de- 
serted and  forsaken ;  but  great  He  was  in  all  the  mystery 
that  enveloped  heaven  ere  He  became  incarnate ;  great  in 
the  promises  and  the  prophecy  and  the  types  and  the  sacri- 
fices which  heralded  His  birth ;  great  in  the  sublime  influ- 
ence which  He  has  diffused  through  every  department  of 
life,  from  the  private  chamber  to  the  royal  throne :  but 


Christ ys  Triumphal  Entry.  289 

greater  than  all,  when,  at  the  consummation  of  all  things, 
He  shall  gather  together  His  people  from  earth  and  sea 
and  the  chambers  of  the  dead,  and  glorify  them  with  that 
glory  which  He  had  with  His  Father  ere  the  world  was ! 
Arouse  yourselves  in  time,  my  people,  and  understand  that 
greatness  !  Be  not  so  blinded  with  the  false  glare  of  this 
world's  glory,  as  not  to  see  this  outspeaking  Divinity  of 
your  Saviour.  Link  not  greatness  forever  in  your  minds 
with  pomp  and  power  and  earthly  glitter ;  but  with  the 
refined  qualities  of  the  soul,  —  Virtue,  Devotion,  Holiness  ! 


19 


Then  answered  all  the  people,  and  said,  His  blood  be  on  us,  and 
on  our  children.  —  S.  Matthew  xxvii.  25. 

TT  OW  dreadful  would  be  our  feelings  at  times,  if,  just  as 
we  had  finished  an  action,  all  its  consequences  were 
made  to  flash  upon  us  !  What  a  change  would  there  often 
be,  in  a  moment,  from  indifference  to  terror,  from  confi- 
dence to  dismay  !  Things  that  under  the  present  arrange- 
ment of  God  seem  but  of  trifling  interest,  would,  under 
such  an  operation,  acquire  an  importance  beyond  concep- 
tion. Events  that  appear  but  of  passing  moment,  would 
be  seen  to  stretch  away  into  an  endless  eternity. 

How  reckless  is  it,  under  a  dispensation  in  which  a  finite 
mind  is  moving  in  the  midst  of  an  infinite  and  incompre- 
hensible scheme,  for  man  to  dash  on  without  Scriptural 
knowledge  or  a  heavenly  guide.  How  daring  for  him,  sur- 
rounded as  he  is  by  controlling  spirits,  invested  as  he  is 
with  an  immortal  soul,  capable  as  he  is  of  infinite  happi- 
ness or  infinite  misery,  to  think  or  say  or  do  any  thing  with- 
out looking  to  its  consequences.  Consequences  are  eternal, 
as  well  as  temporal ;  affect  others,  as  well  as  ourselves ; 
change  their  nature  and  become  causes,  and  are  prolific  in 
effects  —  glorious  or  dreadful  —  like  themselves ;  perpetu- 
ating to  generations  yet  unborn  their  blessing  or  their 
curse.  We  do  not  see  them.  We  cannot  follow  them. 
They  circle  away  beyond  our  view  and  beyond  our  concep- 
tion. But  still  they  are  ours ;  and  one  day  shall  they  be 
traced  out  for  us,  by  the  hand  of  our  Judge,  along  their 


The  Blood  of  God, 


291 


pathway  of  evil  or  of  good,  amazing  us  with  their  extent, 
overwhelming  us  with  their  awfulness. 

How  little  did  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  who  invoked,  at 
the  judgment  seat  of  Pilate,  the  blood  of  Jesus  upon  them 
and  their  children,  understand  what  they  were  doing ! 
How  little  did  they  appreciate  the  consequences  that  were 
wrapped  up  in  that  one  rash  sentence  !  Could  these  have 
passed  before  them,  on  the  instant,  in  their  terrible  array  : 
their  tongues  would  have  cleaved  to  the  roof  of  their 
mouths,  —  their  spirits  would  have  melted  within  them  for 
very  terror.  The  personal  suffering,  the  national  disgrace, 
the  terrible  siege  wherein  for  very  straitness  they  did  eat 
the  fruit  of  their  own  body,  the  abomination  of  desolation 
standing  in  the  Holy  Place,  Jerusalem  ploughed  over,  them- 
selves scattered  upon  the  whole  earth,  ages  of  widowhood 
and  persecution  and  reproach  and  contempt  and  misery,  — 
no  home,  no  ease,  no  rest :  these  in  themselves  would  have 
made  up  an  appalling  picture  of  evil,  for  parents  to  call 
down  upon  their  children.  But  when  to  these  are  added 
their  spiritual  miseries,  —  that  want  of  a  Temple,  of  an 
Altar,  of  a  Sacrifice ;  that  absence  of  Jehovah  from  the 
midst  of  them ;  that  darkness  of  soul  that  has  settled  upon 
them ;  that  inscrutable  purpose  of  God  iu  regard  to  their 
salvation ;  that  trembling  of  spirit  and  fearfulness  of  heart 
which  Mosaic  prophecy  has  fixed  upon  them :  they  would 
at  once  have  realized  the  woe  denounced  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
upon  those  by  whom  He  should  be  betrayed ;  they  would 
at  once  have  cried  out,  in  anguish  of  spirit:  "Would  to 
God  we  had  never  been  born  ! 99 

But  hidden  as  these  consequences  were  from  their  eyes, 

—  hidden  by  their  unbelief,  their  malice,  their  contempt, 

—  their  clamorous  cry  was,  "  Crucify  Him,  crucify  Him  !  " 
And  when  Pilate  washed  his  hands  before  them,  saying,  "  I 
am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  just  person :  see  ye  to  it ; " 


292  The  Blood  of  God. 

the  reckless  answer  was  :  "  His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our 
children." 

It  is  a  bold  step  for  man  to  take  any  one's  blood  on  him- 
self and  on  his  children ;  for  blood  crieth  unto  the  Lord 
from  the  earth  in  a  mysterious  way,  and  fetcheth  down  a 
curse  :  but  to  invoke  such  Blood  as  was  found  upon  the 
Cross,  was  unutterable  madness.  If  they  had  the  most  dis- 
tant conception  that  the  Being  standing  with  them  before 
Pilate  was  their  Messiah ;  if  the  vaguest  doubt  floated  in 
their  minds  that  He  might  indeed  be  the  Prince  of  Peace ; 
if  the  slightest  testimony  witnessed  to  His  identity  with 
Him  of  whom  the  Prophets  had  spoken  from  the  beginning  ; 
their  folly  was  inconceivable  :  for  the  Blood  they  were  pre- 
suming to  take  as  a  burden  upon  them  and  theirs,  was 
Blood  which  concentred  in  itself  every  thing  that  could 
make  it  precious,  and  sacred,  and  vengeance-bringing.  It 
was  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  Covenant,  —  that  which  had 
entered  into  the  counsel  of  Peace  as  the  price  of  man's  re- 
demption ;  which  had  been  accepted,  when  every  thing  else 
in  Heaven,  and  Earth,  and  the  Universe  of  God,  had  been 
reckoned  valueless  ;  which  had  sealed  the  New  Testament 
of  Mercy.  It  was  the  Blood  that  was  the  substance  of  all 
their  sacrificial  blood ;  which  had  given  to  their  sacrifices 
their  whole  value  and  efficacy ;  which  had  made  them,  for  a 
season,  mighty  for  the  remission  of  sin  and  the  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  soul.  It  was  the  blood  of  God,  according  as  S. 
Luke  tells  us  in  his  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  when  he  speaks 
of  the  Church  of  God  which  He  redeemed  with  His  own 
Blood :  awful  and  mysterious  theme,  —  incomprehensible 
and  soul-subduing  thought,  before  which  we  must  bow  in 
humble  adoration,  —  the  blood  of  God  made  Man,  prepared, 
infused,  circulated  for  this  very  end.  It  was  the  blood  that 
is  forever  offered  at  the  mercy-seat  of  God,  pleading  for 
mercy,  crying  for  vengeance,  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb  as  it 


The  Blood  of  God,  293 

had  been  slain,  which  the  Apostle  of  the  Apocalypse  saw  in 
the  midst  of  the  Throne  and  of  the  Elders,  —  snch  was 
the  Blood  which  this  maddened  multitude  invoked  upon 
themselves,  and  upon  their  children ;  which  has  cleaved  to 
them  as  a  curse  forever  since ;  which  still  follows  them, 
saying,  "  True  and  righteous  are  Thy  judgments,  Lord  God 
Almighty." 1 

What  a  burden  for  a  human  creature  to  bear !  The  blood 
of  a  fellow-mortal  upon  us  subdues  our  spirit,  quenches 
our  energy,  furrows  our  brow,  whitens  our  head,  mixes  bit- 
terness in  every  cup  of  life  :  but  the  blood  of  God,  oh  what 
a  burden !  If  Cain  said,  when  the  blood  of  his  brother 
was  upon  him,  "My  punishment  is  greater  than  I  can 
bear.  .  . .  Every  one  that  findeth  me  shall  slay  me:"2  what 
shall  he  say,  upon  whom  is  resting  the  blood  of  his  God  ? 
Surely  every  thing  in  the  Universe  must  rise  up  against 
him,  — Nature,  which  that  Blood  has  freed  from  its  curse ; 
Saints,  whom  that  Blood  has  ransomed  from  destruction  ; 
Angels,  whom  their  King,  clothed  in  a  vesture  dipped  in 
that  Blood,  leads  forth  as  His  avenging  host ;  God  Himself, 
before  whom  it  is  offered  day  and  night  unceasingly :  — 
Lord  God  of  mercy  !  May  none  of  us  ever  have  the  Blood 
of  Thy  Son  upon  us ! 

But  we  can  have  it  upon  us !  we  can  bring  it  down  upon 
us,  and  upon  our  children.  We  can  crucify  Christ  afresh, 
and  take  upon  us,  and  ours,  the  whole  curse,  present  and 
eternal.  We  cannot  escape  the  contact  of  that  Blood.  It 
has  been  shed  for  us  ;  and  upon  us,  and  ours,  must  it  have 
its  operation.  We  cannot  escape  it.  If  we  climb  up  to 
Heaven,  it  meets  us  there.  If  we  descend  to  hell,  it  has 
been  there  before  us.  If  we  cover  ourselves  with  darkness, 
it  tracks  us  as  in  the  light,  having  itself  shrouded  the 
world  in  darkness,  even  when  it  was  laying  its  terrible 
1  Rev.  xyi.  7.  2  Gen.  iv.  13,  14. 


294  The  Blood  of  God. 

grasp  upon  those  who  shed  it.  Christ  died  for  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world,  past,  present,  and  to  come ;  and  our  sins 
formed  a  part  of  the  load  that  pressed  upon  the  Soul  of  this 
God,  and  wrung  the  Blood  from  his  lacerated  Body.  It 
has  been  shed  for  us.  The  Covenant  was,  that  He  should 
bear  the  sins  of  all ;  and  we  must  answer  for  our  portion 
of  it.  Our  sins  nailed  Him  to  the  Cross.  Our  sins  pierced 
His  hands,  His  feet,  His  heart.  Our  sins  brought  down 
upon  Him  the  wrath  of  God,  and  the  darkness  of  desertion. 
And  we  must  account  for  our  share  in  the  work.  It  will 
not  do  to  lay  it  upon  those  who  stood  around  the  judgment- 
seat  and  cried  for  His  Blood;  nor  even  upon  those  who 
gloated  on  Him  as  He  hung  upon  the  Cross.  We  are  in 
like  condemnation  with  them.  The  Blood  is  upon  us  :  and 
it  must  either  wash  us,  and  place  us  among  the  ransomed 
of  God ;  or  else  fetch  down  upon  us  the  wrath  and  fierce- 
ness of  the  Almighty.  It  is  not  voluntary  with  us  whether 
we  shall  stand  connected  with  that  Blood.  From  eternity 
has  that  been  settled.  It  is  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
Covenant,  and  we  must  meet  it  everywhere  and  forever,  in 
the  shape  of  mercy,  or  the  form  of  vengeance.  It  remains 
for  us  only  to  determine  whether  it  shall  glorify  us  and  ele- 
vate us  to  the  rank  of  the  redeemed,  or  whether  it  shall 
press  us  down  to  utter  darkness,  the  blackness  of  darkness. 

And  we  can  entail  it  upon  our  children.  We  can  act  so 
that  they,  as  well  as  we,  shall  bear  the  curse  of  this  Blood. 
We  can  hand  down  its  burden  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, and  it  shall  lie  heavy  upon  our  posterity,  and  they 
shall  writhe  under  it,  until  the  grace  of  God  cut  off  the 
entail.  0  my  beloved  friends,  deep  and  awful  are  the  deal- 
ings of  God  in  Christ :  but  they  should  be  looked  at  here, 
in  all  their  depth  and  in  all  their  awfulness,  before  it  be  too 
late  to  help  ourselves  or  those  we  love.  God  has  set  before 
us,  in  the  Jewish  people,  a  living  example  of  His  dealings 


The  Blood  of  God,  295 

in  this  regard.  "  His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children :  " 
and  we  see  how  it  hath  dealt  with  them  unto  this  day,  — 
how  it  will  deal  with  them,  until  God  "  pour  upon  the  house 
of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit 
of  grace  and  of  supplications :  and  they  shall  look  upon 
him  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him 
as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitterness 
for  him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first-born."  1 
And  so  are  His  dealings  now.  Unbelief,  contempt  for  re- 
ligion, vice,  perpetuate  themselves,  pass  down,  from  father 
to  son,  and  to  son's  son,  until  the  horrible  succession  is  lost 
to  the  view  of  the  mortal  eye  that  has  traced  it ;  but  not 
lost  to  the  Eternal  Eye,  which  never  sleepeth.  It  was  a 
noble  lineage  of  faith  which  the  Apostle  ascribed  to  Timo- 
thy, when  he  spoke  of  the  "  unfeigned  faith  "  that  was  in 
him,  "  which  dwelt  first  in  his  grandmother  Lois,  and  his 
mother  Eunice : " 2  and  how  often,  even  with  our  short- 
sightedness, can  we  trace  the  descent  of  infidelity  from  gen- 
eration to  generation,  —  can  we  trace  the  fruits  of  vice 
as  they  break  out,  age  after  age,  in  the  blood  that  hath 
planted  them  in  the  race.  The  Blood  of  Christ  cannot  be 
trifled  with.  It  is  destruction  to  ourselves,  destruction  to 
all  about  us,  —  it  is  a  plague  upon  our  house :  unless  we 
can  turn  it,  through  faith  and  prayer,  into  a  blessing. 

And  how  naturally  is  the  dreadful  result  worked  out. 
Those  who  say  unto  God,  "  Depart  from  us ;  for  we  desire 
not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways ; " 3  who  say  of  Christ, 
"  His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children : "  themselves 
produce  the  horrible  result.  Their  principles,  their  pre- 
cepts, their  example,  are  all  against  religion :  and  the 
watchful  eye  of  childhood  fixes  itself  upon  its  parent's 
movements,  drinks  in  his  unguarded  language  of  irreligion, 
notes  his  open  marks  of  scorn,  imitates  his  neglect  of  all 
1  Zech.  xii.  10.  2  2  Tim.  i.  5.  3  Job  xxi.  14. 


296 


The  Blood  of  God, 


sacred  observances,  and  glories  that  he  is  like  his  father,  — 
a  despiser  of  God,  and  a  scorner  of  the  Blood  of  Jesus. 
And  the  father,  too,  glories  in  the  manliness  of  his  boy,  and 
chuckles,  perchance,  at  his  independence  of  thought  and 
of  feeling,  and  rejoices  —  at  what  P  That  he  has  made  his 
child  an  unbeliever ;  that  he  has  helped  to  put  the  Blood 
of  Christ  upon  him ;  that  he  has  doomed  him,  so  far  as  he 
can  do  it,  to  eternal  misery !  A  man  should  be  thoroughly 
convinced  that  Christianity  is  a  fraud,  before  he  takes  this 
responsibility  upon  himself;  should  be  assured  that  it  is 
nothing  to  trample  the  Blood  of  Jesus  under  his  feet ;  be- 
fore he  leads  his  children  to  do  it.  His  children  God  has 
given  him  for  nurture,  for  admonition,  for  eternal  as  well 
as  spiritual  guidance :  and  he  uses  his  power  to  make  that 
child,  with  his  own  will,  —  for  the  child  has  as  yet  no  will 
in  the  matter,  —  indifferent  about  religion,  if  not  a  scoffer. 
And  even  though  he  be  not  in  himself  an  unbeliever  or  a 
scorner,  —  even  though  he  show  outward  respect  to  religion, 
and  treat  its  observances  with  attention,  —  yet  ought  he 
to  ask  himself  seriously  whether  the  keen  observation  of 
childhood  does  not  mark  the  inconsistency  between  his  ac- 
tions and  his  feelings ;  does  not  graduate  his  belief  and  his 
action  according  to  the  example  that  is  most  venerated  and 
esteemed  in  his  eyes.  Without  family  worship,  without  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  fireside,  without  the  father's 
hand  of  blessing  upon  his  children's  head,  without  the  in- 
vocation of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  his  household,  the  child 
will  seldom  carry  into  the  world  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  ; 
will  seldom  have  the  Blood  of  Christ  sprinkled  upon  him 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  that  the  avenging  angel  shall  pass 
by  him  in  the  day  of  destruction. 

But  there  is  yet  another  class  that  bring  down  upon  them- 
selves and  upon  their  children  the  Blood  of  Christ.  And 
they  are  the  hypocrites,  —  those  who  use  religion  as  a  cloak, 


The  Blood  of  God.  297 

and  wear  it  as  a  garment  for  convenience.  This  was  the 
class  against  whom  Christ  uttered  the  only  woes,  —  the 
only  language  of  harshness  that  is  ascrihed  to  Him  in  the 
Scriptures.  The  opposers  of  His  doctrine  He  answered 
mildly.  The  multitudes  that  cried  out,  u  Crucify  him,  cru- 
cify him  !  "  He  wept  for,  with  compassion.  They  that  stood 
around  His  Cross,  nailing  Him  to  it,  He  prayed  His  Father 
to  forgive.  But  of  the  hypocrites,  who  for  a  pretence  made 
long  prayers,  He  asked,  "  How  can  ye  escape  the  damna- 
tion of  hell?"  1  And  for  this  very  reason,  —  hecause  they 
have  taken  upon  them  the  Blood  of  Christ,  and  use  it  for 
vile  purposes,  desecrating  that,  which  is  the  most  precious 
gift  of  God,  to  lust  and  to  iniquity.  And  after  the  same 
natural  way  of  which  we  spoke  just  now,  does  this  Blood 
rest  upon  their  children,  who  grow  up  learning  to  he  hypo- 
crites, taught  to  look  upon  the  religion  of  Jesus  as  a  mat- 
ter of  convenience  or  of  interest,  odious  in  the  sight  of  all 
spiritual  souls,  a  stumhling-hlock  in  the  way  of  the  irre- 
ligious. Lord  Jesus,  teach  these  deluded  souls  the  way 
to  escape  damnation !  —  the  way  to  cut  off  the  entail  of 
this  Blood  from  their  offspring ! 

When  the  people  answered,  and  imprecated  this  Blood 
upon  themselves,  and  upon  their  children,  He  that  was  to 
pour  it  out  stood  captive,  and  hound,  at  the  judgment-seat 
of  Pilate.  That  was  their  hour,  and  the  power  of  darkness. 
But  the  Bible  tells  us  that  there  shall  come  out  of  Heaven 
one  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  Blood,  whose  name  is 
called  TJie  Word  of  God  ;  and  there  follow  Him  the  armies 
which  are  in  Heaven.  "  And  out  of  his  mouth  goeth  a 
sharp  sword,  that  with  it  he  should  smite  the  nations :  and 
he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  :  and  he  treadeth  the 
wine-press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God." 
And  on  this  same  vesture  dipped  in  Blood,  "  a  name  writ- 
1  S.  Matt,  xxiii.  33. 


298  The  Blood  of  God. 

ten,  "  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords."  1  And  when 
"  the  wine-press  was  trodden,"  "  blood  came  out  of  the  wine- 
press, even  unto  the  horse-bridles."  2  What  an  awful  har- 
mony of  sin  and  of  punishment !  The  garment  of  the 
avenger,  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood,  —  that  very  Blood  which 
they  had  despised  and  invoked  upon  themselves,  and  their 
children :  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted  in  the  wine-press 
of  the  fierceness  of  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty,  —  that  same 
wine-press  which  He  had  trodden  alone,  when  the  prophet 
saw  Him,  in  vision,  coming  "  from  Edom,  with  dyed  gar- 
ments from  Bozrah,"  "  glorious  in  His  apparel,  travelling 
in  the  greatness  of  His  strength  :  "  3  that  punishment,  to 
be  trodden  under  foot,  until  their  blood  should  come  out  of 
the  wine-press,  —  even  as  they  had  trampled  under  foot  in 
this  world  the  Blood  of  His  Atonement.  How  shall  they 
appear  at  that  day,  upon  whom  is  lying  the  Blood  of 
Christ  ?  If  the  Saints  that  have  been  slain  for  the  Word 
of  God  and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  cry  in  the  Heavens 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  "  How  long,  0  Lord,  holy  and 
true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth?"4  shall  the  Blood  of  Christ, 
wrung  from  Him  in  His  sweat  of  agony,  drawn  from  Him 
by  the  nails  in  His  hands  and  in  His  feet,  forced  from  Him 
by  the  thorns  in  His  forehead  and  the  spear  in  His  side,  cry 
for  vengeance  in  vain,  vengeance  upon  those  who  have  in- 
voked it  upon  them  and  upon  their  children  ?  It  shall,  and 
it  will,  be  heard !  Prophecy  has  uttered  the  words ;  and 
prophecy  never  faileth.  When  "  the  day  of  vengeance  is 
in  mine  heart,  and  the  year  of  my  redeemed  is  come,"  "  I 
will  tread  them  in  mine  anger,  and  trample  them  in  my 
fury,  and  their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled  upon  my  garments, 
and  I  will  stain  all  my  raiment."  5 

1  Rev.  xix.  13-16.  2  Key.  xiv.  20.  8  Isaiah  lxiii.  1. 

4  Rev.  vi.  10.  6  Isaiah  lxiii.  3,  4. 


The  Blood  of  God,  299 

My  beloved  friends,  is  not  this  an  awful  doom  for  one  to 
bring  upon  himself,  and  upon  his  children  9  I  have  not 
exaggerated  a  single  word.  I  have  not  left  the  language 
of  Scripture  for  an  instant.  All  that  I  have  said,  and 
more  besides,  is  contained  therein ;  and  over  all  there  hangs 
the  feeling  that  it  is  language  that  fails  to  convey  its  whole 
awful ness,  and  not  that  the  theme  is  exhausted.  What  I 
'  have  given  you  is  the  description,  such  as  it  can  be  received 
into  a  finite  mind.  The  reality,  when  we  shall  become  spir- 
itualized aud  capable  of  taking  in  the  whole  sublimity,  will 
far  exceed  our  worst  conception.  Until  that  Day  of  Ven- 
geance come,  and  we  see  the  Almighty  in  His  fierceness, 
and  the  Lamb  in  His  wrath,  and  we  feel  the  meaning  of 
those  words,  "  The  Blood  of  God :  "  we  shall  not  understand 
the  horror  of  imprecating  it  upon  us,  and  upon  our  children. 
Until  then,  we  can  only  use  the  language  of  the  Bible,  and 
—  comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture,  and  gathering  the 
materials  of  woe  —  warn  you  against  the  burden  of  this 
Blood.  And  oh !  turn  not  away  from  the  description ! 
It  is  the  part  of  true  courage,  and  of  true  nobleness,  to 
look  the  matter  in  the  face.  Say  not,  "  These  terrible 
things  shall  not  drive  me  to  religion."  If  they  are  true, 
they  ought  to  drive  you  there  :  and  it  is  your  duty,  for  your 
own  sakes  and  for  your  children's  sakes,  to  determine 
whether  they  are  true.  Why  should  not  the  terrible  things 
of  God  drive  us  to  consideration  ?  Is  it  the  part  of  wis- 
dom to  despise  what  it  may  one  day  have  to  meet  ?  —  to 
rush  on  blindly,  involving  with  you  in  one  common  fate  all 
that  you  love  most  dearly,  to  what  may  be  eternal  death 
and  intolerable  anguish?  If  there  be  a  probability  in 
favor  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  —  and  even  to  the  most 
skeptical  mind  there  is  a  very  great  probability,  —  you 
should  at  once  adopt  it  and  act  upon  it  as  if  it  were  demon- 
stration, so  awful  are  the  interests  which  are  included 


The  Blood  of  God, 


under  it.  And  believe  me,  that  every  day  that  probability 
will  increase  in  your  mind  until  it  becomes  moral  certainty, 
and  you  feel  as  sure  of  its  truth,  as  you  do  of  your  per- 
sonal identity. 

Men  and  brethren,  strive  to  cut  off  this  entail  of  the 
Blood  of  Jesus  !  Let  it  no  longer  cleave  as  a  curse  to  you 
and  yours ;  but,  by  the  grace  of  God,  change  it  into  a  bless- 
ing !  Permit  it  not  to  rest  upon  you  as  a  burden,  sinking 
you  down  to  condemnation  ;  but  use  it  as  a  fountain  for  sin 
and  for  uncleanness  !  It  has  been  opened  in  the  House  of 
David  for  that  purpose.  To  invoke  it  upon  you  and  yours, 
is  to  abuse  it,  —  to  desecrate  it :  but  to  wash  your  robes  in 
it,  and  make  them  "  white  in  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb,"  that 
is  to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  the  Godhead.  As  we  said 
before,  this  Blood  must  have  its  effect  upon  you,  for  evil  or 
for  good.  You  and  yours  cannot  get  rid  of  it.  The  world 
cannot  get  rid  of  it.  It  hath  been  shed,  and  every  thing 
human  and  divine  must  submit  before  it.  It  is  the  mark 
that  shall  designate  for  mercy  or  for  slaughter.  Let  it  be 
upon  you  for  mercy  !  Let  it  be  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  of 
which  the  Apostle  saith  to  the  Hebrews,  that  it  "  speaketh 
better  things  than  that  of  Abel."  1  Invoke  that  upon  you 
and  upon  your  children.  Applied  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  who 
hath  the  treasure  in  His  keeping,  it  clean seth  from  all  un- 
righteousness ;  it  purgetb  the  conscience  from  dead  works, 
to  serve  the  living  God ;  it  purifies  the  corrupted  nature ;  it 
turns  aside  the  destroying  angel,  when  he  comes  upon  his 
work  of  vengeance.  Sprinkled  upon  your  House,  you  need 
fear  nothing.  Evil  tidings  shall  not  disturb  you.  The 
afflictions  of  life  shall  only  refine  you,  as  gold  tried  in  the 
fire.  Death,  at  his  entrance,  shall  not  dismay  you  :  for  the 
Blood  is  upon  your  lintel  and  your  door-posts,  and  at  the 
sight  his  sting  grows  pointless.    The  grave  shall  have  no 

i  Heb.  xii.  24. 


The  Blood  of  God.  301 

darkness  :  for  He  sprinkled  the  sepulchre  with  His  Blood, 
and  light  and  immortality  are  there.  The  Judgment  day 
shall  have  no  terrors  :  for  you  and  yours  shall  all  be  marked 
in  the  forehead,  the  water  of  Baptism  having  changed, 
under  this  sprinkling,  and  shining  there  a  blood-red  Cross. 
Pray,  men  and  brethren,  for  this  Blood  to  be  sprinkled  upon 
you  at  once,  lest  some  of  you  be  cut  off  ere  it  be  done,  and 
you  go  to  Judgment  with  it  witnessing  against  you. 

And  is  not  the  preciousness  of  this  Blood  an  inducement 
to  you  to  cry  unto  God  for  the  sprinkling  of  it  upon  you  ? 
If  it  were  doubtful  in  its  efficacy,  you  might  hesitate  about 
taking  any  especial  pains  to  procure  it :  but  its  sufficiency 
is  pledged  by  the  everlasting  covenant  of  God.  God  hath 
sworn,  and  will  not  repent ;  that  it  shall  be  glorified  in  His 
Kingdom ;  that  it  shall  be  the  badge  of  honor  in  those 
realms  of  peace ;  the  token  of  past  forgiveness ;  the  sign  of 
eternal  bliss.  Its  efficacy  reacheth  from  eternity  to  eter- 
nity. It  hath  power  to  blot  out  every  thing  that  is  past ; 
to  assure  every  thing  that  is  to  come.  Once  sprinkled 
upon  you  and  your  children,  it  is  forever  there ;  and 
nothing  shall  take  it  from  you,  —  neither  man,  nor  an- 
gels, nor  devils. 

And  is  not  the  freeness  of  this  Blood  an  inducement  to 
you  to  cry  unto  God  for  the  sprinkling  of  it  upon  you? 
"  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  1 
If  this  was  a  boon  which  God  were  unwilling  to  grant,  there 
were  some  better  reason  why  you  sought  not  after  it,  as 
you  might  lose  your  pains.  But  nothing  can  be  more  freely 
offered  than  is  this  Blood.  "  And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride 
say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  And 
let  him  that  is  athirst  come."  2  Christ  has  been  lifted  up 
upon  the  Cross ;  and  if,  instead  of  scorning  Him,  you  cast 

1  1  Tim.  i.  15.  2  Rev.  xxii.  17. 


302  The  Blood  of  God. 

upon  Him  a  look  of  faith,  you  shall  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life ! 

And  are  not  the  mighty  agents  that  are  at  work  ready 
to  procure  for  you  this  Blood,  an  inducement  to  you  to 
strive  after  it  ?  The  Throne  of  Grace  is  set  up  in  the  Heav- 
ens. A  way  to  it  has  been  opened  by  the  Blood  of  Jesus. 
God  sits  more  ready  to  hear,  than  we  to  pray.  Go  there ; 
and  ask,  by  the  Agony  and  bloody  Sweat,  by  the  Cross  and 
Passion,  by  the  precious  Death  and  Burial,  by  the  glorious 
Eesurrection  and  Ascension,  of  your  Saviour,  for  the 
sprinkling  of  this  Blood :  and  the  Holy  Ghost  will  come 
forth  and  subdue  your  hearts  of  unbelief,  and  show  you  the 
sufficiency  of  Jesus,  and  unite  you  to  Him  by  a  true  and 
living  faith.  And  in  making  those  prayers,  we  have  an 
Advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous  ;  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  intercedeth  for  us  with  groanings  that  can- 
not be  uttered.  The  cry  for  mercy  through  the  Blood  of 
Jesus  will  always  be  heard  there. 

Men  and  brethren,  come  unto  Jesus !  He  is  waiting  to 
receive  you ;  and  not  only  waiting,  but  He  is  abroad  seeking 
them  that  are  lost !  He  stretches  out  His  arms  over  you, 
invoking  blessings  from  His  Father  upon  you.  He  has 
given  you  full  manifestation  of  His  willingness  to  save,  in 
the  Christians  that  are  now  around  you.  Why  should  He 
save  us,  and  not  you  ?  We  are  no  better,  no  worthier ! 
Each  one  of  us  has  cause  to  say,  with  S.  Paul,  "  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners ;  of  whom  I  am 
chief"  2  None  of  you  can  be  worse  than  we  were  ;  for  God 
does  not  reckon  sin  as  man  reckons  it !  Be  not  afraid. 
Cast  yourself  upon  the  Blood  of  Christ,  and  it  will  make 
you  all  that  you  desire,  all  that  you  need  !  Wait  not  until 
you  are  worthier.  "  They  that  are  whole  need  not  a  physi- 
cian, but  they  that  are  sick."  3  Come  as  you  are,  burdened 
1 1  Tim.  i.  15.  2  Ibid.  *  S.  Luke  v.  31. 


The  Blood  of  God.  303 

with  sin.  It  is  safer  that,  than  to  remain  burdened  with 
the  Blood  of  Christ.  Coming  with  the  burden  of  sin,  you 
can  but  perish,  having  done  your  duty :  remaining  with  the 
burden  of  Christ's  Blood,  nothing  shall  ever  avail  to  purge 
you  clean  ! 


To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world, 
that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of 
the  truth  heareth  my  voice.  —  S.  John  xviii.  37. 


HEN  we  recall  the  events  which  have  made  this  day 


?  *  the  most  solemn  in  the  Church's  calendar,  the  most 
important  in  the  records  of  our  race,  we  turn  with  deep 
anxiety  to  search  in  every  direction  if  by  any  means  we 
may  grasp  something  of  the  divine  purpose  for  which  such 
a  catastrophe  was  consummated.  Why  such  an  Incarna- 
tion as  this  of  Christ  ?  Why  such  a  life  of  wondrous  woe, 
and  such  a  death  of  terrible  suffering  ?  Why  such  a  long 
array  of  promises,  of  types,  of  prophecies  ?  In  answer  to 
this  craving  anxiety  Christ  Himself  satisfies  us,  when  He 
saith  to  Pilate  :  "  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause 
came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the 
truth.    Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice." 

To  creatures  situated  as  we  are,  there  is  nothing  so  im- 
portant as  truth ;  and  at  the  same  time  nothing,  I  grieve  to 
say,  so  unpalatable.  Without  the  Truth,  placed  before  us 
upon  divine  authority,  we  are  in  a  most  uncertain  position, 
alike  ignorant  of  the  present  and  of  the  future.  Both  in 
the  past,  and  in  these  days  of  accumulated  knowledge,  we 
have  enough  of  human  speculation  and  man's  conjecture ; 
but  what  we  need  is  a  Divine  voice,  uttering  words  from 
the  fountain  of  wisdom  and  of  truth.  But  while  we  need 
it,  and  in  a  certain  measure  crave  it,  it  is  nevertheless, 
when  uttered,  received  with  aversion  and  unbelief,  because 


Christ  the  Truth. 


505 


it  does  not  harmonize  with  our  preconceived  views  and 
wishes.  But  the  value  of  Christ's  incarnation  is,  that,  being 
the  Son  of  God.  He  cared  more  for  our  good  than  for  our 
gratification ;  and  when  He  did  speak,  did  not  dally  with 
us,  nor  natter  us,  hut  placed  the  truth  fully  before  us, 
whether  we  would  hear  or  whether  we  would  forbear.  His 
purpose  was,  to  awaken  us  to  our  true  condition,  and  then 
to  offer  us  the  only  remedy  in  Heaven  or  earth  for  that 
condition. 

Man  disputes  always  the  sinfulness  of  sin.  There  is  no 
point  upon  which  he  continues  in  such  great  error,  —  no 
point  upon  which  it  is  less  easy  to  undeceive  him.  Every 
thing  within  him  and  around  him  operates  to  keep  him 
wrong  upon  this  point :  his  own  corruption  by  the  fall;  the 
custom  of  the  world  which  calls  good  evil,  and  evil  good ; 
the  habits  and  fashions  which  surround  him  from  his  birth, 
and  which  all  help  to  deceive  him  and  to  support  his  own 
views.  Wherever  he  can  see  sin  breaking  out  and  disturb- 
ing society,  —  wherever  he  can  feel  it  inflicting  pain  and 
suffering  upon  himself  or  those  he  cares  for,  —  he  is  ready 
to  confess  its  heinousness  ;  but  beyond  this,  when  it  affects 
only  God  and  His  spiritual  universe,  he  does  not  under- 
stand why  so  much  is  made  of  it  by  the  Church,  and  by 
those  who  call  themselves  the  ambassadors  of  God  upon 
earth.  "What  have  I  done?"  is  the  question  which  he 
puts  in  connection  with  his  own  life.  "  TYhat  is  there  in 
my  conduct  to  my  neighbor  that  deserves  the  threatened 
punishment  against  sin  ?  It  is  to  enquiries  like  these  that 
the  coming  and  life  of  Christ  give  the  divine  answer  :  the 
first  step  towards  truth. 

How  should  God  —  who  willed  not  the  death  of  a  sinner, 
but  rather  that  he  should  come  into  the  light  and  life  of 
Truth  —  satisfy  man  of  the  odiousness  of  sin  ;  —  of  sin  in 
itself,  abstracted  from  its  injury  to  man  and  to  society? 


306 


Christ  the  Truth. 


The  effects  of  sin  cannot  always  be  traced.  They  are  be- 
yond onr  power  to  follow.  They  are  separated  again,  at 
too  long  distances,  from  the  sin  which  produced  them. 
They  ofttimes  do  not  strike  the  senses,  and  so  are  lost 
upon  us.  How  was  sin  to  be  so  connected  with  its  terrible 
results,  as  to  make  its  sinfulness  in  God's  view  manifest  to 
man  ?  Some  striking  exhibition  of  His  abhorrence  of  it 
must  be  made  in  the  face  of  the  world;  some  illustrious 
example  of  its  horrible  criminality,  and  then  of  its  merci- 
less punishment,  must  be  given  to  our  race.  And  so  God 
arranged  it,  in  His  own  Divine  counsels,  that  when  the  at- 
tention of  His  suffering  creatures  had  been  attracted  by  a 
long  course  of  events,  unique  and  conspicuous,  —  events 
connecting  themselves  with  the  most  conspicuous  nations 
of  antiquity, —  He  lifted  up  His  own  Son  upon  the  Cross, 
that,  dying  the  death  of  a  malefactor,  He  might  testify  to 
this  solemn  truth,  that  sin  could  not  be  pardoned  even  in 
His  sacred  Person  ;  —  that  God  would  not  spare  its  odious 
features,  even  though  they  must  be  struck  at  through 
His  only  beloved  Son. 

Standing  then,  this  morning,  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross, 
learn,  my  hearers,  your  first  lesson  in  Divine  Truth  :  that 
sin,  however  lightly  you  may  think  of  it,  will  not  be  par- 
doned by  God,  except  upon  the  conditions  of  the  Gospel. 
If  you  have  ever  doubted  the  fearful  nature  of  sin,  because 
you  have  not  witnessed  its  dreadful  effects,  contemplate 
them  here.  See  in  all  that  passed  before  the  eyes  of  men 
upon  this  day,  long  centuries  ago  at  Jerusalem,  and  which 
the  Church  brings  back  to  you  upon  this  its  anniversary 
through  all  her  services,  what  God  thinks  of  that,  which 
you  commit  so  readily,  and  speak  of  so  flippantly,  and  ex- 
pect to  obtain  pardon  for  —  if  pardon  be  at  all  necessary  — 
so  easily.  See  how  God  deals  with  it  when  He  encounters 
it  in  the  Person  of  His  only  and  well-beloved  Son ;  and 


Christ  the  Truth, 


307 


tremble  lest  he  find  you,  at  the  last,  subject  to  a  like  mer- 
eilessness  at  His  hands.  Christ  upon  the  Cross  is  the  wit- 
ness to  you,  and  to  the  solemn  truth,  that  sin  is  an  evil  and 
a  bitter  thing1 ! 

In  what  spirit,  my  hearer,  will  you  receive  the  truth  ?  It 
is  brought  to  your  notice  conspicuously  to-day.  Never 
again  can  any  one  of  you  say  that  you  knew  not  the  odious- 
ness  of  sin  in  the  sight  of  a  pure  and  holy  God.  When  you 
look  at  the  Son  of  God,  made  Man,  and  born  into  the  world 
of  a  woman ;  at  Him  whose  glory  was  equal  with  the 
Father's  for  eternity ;  at  Him  whose  birth  made  the  Heav- 
ens to  shine  with  glory,  and  the  Angels  announced ;  at  Him 
wThose  pathway  was  one  of  wonders  and  miracles ;  at  Him, 
whose  Death  convulsed  all  Nature :  and  see  Him  smitten  by 
God  for  sin,  and  for  nothing  but  sin  ;  and  that  sin  borne  for 
us :  every  mouth  must  be  stopped,  and  every  conscience  must 
be  satisfied  that  God  will  not  look  upon  iniquity.  When- 
ever you  feel  inclined  or  tempted,  my  hearer,  to  consider 
sin  as  a  little  thing ;  to  make  a  mock  at  it,  like  a  fool ;  to 
despise  its  threatened  punishment :  only  cast  your  eyes  up 
to  the  Cross,  and  you  will  see  that  all  which  the  Bible  says 
to  you ;  that  all  which  society,  in  its  universal  subjection  to 
the  curse,  attests  to  you ;  that  all  which  your  Ministers 
preach  to  you  about  the  sinfulness  of  sin,  is  far  less  than 
the  truth :  that  Christ  alone,  as  He  expires  upon  the  Cross, 
can  truly  testify  of  its  terribleness. 

And  should  it  not  startle  you,  my  hearer,  when  you  thus 
are  made  to  understand  with  what  a  dangerous  thing  you 
are  trifling ;  with  what  boldness  you  handle  sin ;  with  what 
presumption  you  approach  it;  with  what  indifference  you 
regard  the  committal  of  it  ?  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  Death," 1 
the  Apostle  tells  you :  and  you  see  Christ  upon  the  Cross, 
suffering  that  Death  for  sin.    Are  you  believers?    Can  you 

1  Rom.  vi.  23. 


3o8 


Christ  the  Truth, 


deem  this  spectacle,  which  the  Church  brings  before  you 
this  clay,  of  your  dying  Saviour,  to  be  any  thing  more  than 
a  fiction,  and  yet  continue  to  sin  recklessly  P  Ask  yourselves 
these  questions  ?  Christ  says :  "  To  this  end  was  I  born, 
and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should 
bear  witness  unto  the  truth."  Do  you  believe  His  witness 
upon  this  point  ?  You  cannot  evade  the  answer.  Either 
you  must  deny  the  faith  of  your  fathers,  abjure  Christianity, 
and  cast  yourself  back  upon  natural  religion,  which  never 
yet  satisfied  anybody  :  or  confess  that  in  your  dying 
Saviour  you  see  the  certain  foreshadowing  of  your  own 
fate,  unless  you  repent  of  sin  and  turn  to  Christ  for  succor 
and  salvation  ! 

But  perchance  you  may  say  :  "  I  see  in  my  crucified 
Lord  the  punishment  of  accumulated  sin,  while  I  feel  in 
myself  no  such  monstrous  burden."  Sin  was  accumulated 
upon  our  Sin-offering,  my  hearer,  because  He  was  the 
Sacrifice  for  the  sin  of  the  world :  but  you  must  remember 
that  it  was  a  single  sin  which  polluted  creation,  and  made 
that  accumulation  a  necessary  consequence.  Could  that 
one  sin  of  our  first  parents,  which  brought  death  into  the 
world  with  all  our  woes,  have  been  arrested  at  its  beginning 
by  a  free  pardon  from  God,  —  a  pardon  without  an  atone- 
ment and  without  a  mediator,  —  think  you  that  He  could 
not,  upon  the  instant,  have  blotted  it  out,  and  thus  have  rid 
his  guiltless  creation  of  the  curse?  Your  argument  only 
brings  out  more  forcibly  the  intensity  of  the  poison  of  sin, 
showing  that  when  once  committed  it  could  not  be  arrested 
in  its  terrible  career  of  guilt  and  curse  and  punishment, 
save  through  the  long  process  which  led  up  to  the  Incarna- 
tion, and  suffering,  and  death  of  Christ.  It  rushed  on,  like 
a  pestilence,  cleaving  its  hideous  pathway  through  the  habi- 
tations of  men,  infecting  every  thing,  polluting  every  thing, 
cursing  every  thing,  dooming  all  men  to  the  fires  of  hell. 


Christ  the  TrtUh. 


309 


Until  our  High  Priest  could  cast  himself  between  man 
and  its  fury,  it  threatened  universal  destruction.  Comfort 
not  yourself,  therefore,  my  hearer,  with  the  soothing  balm 
of  not  being  a  great  sinner  !  A  single  sin  was  enough  to 
pollute  the  whole  creation  :  and  you  surely  will  not  say  that 
you  have  never  committed  a  single  sin.  A  single  sin  was 
enough  to  accumulate  all  that  guilt  for  which  Christ  died ; 
was  enough  to  bring  about  this  bloody  Sacrifice  which  the 
Church  exhibits  before  you  this  day.  A  single  sin  is  suffi- 
cient to  bring  down  upon  you  the  whole  penalty  of  the  Law. 
Jesus  Christ  is  my  witness,  for  He  has  said  in  His  Holy 
Word :  "  Whosever  shall  keep  the  whole  law  and  yet  offend 
in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all." 1 

Another  point,  my  hearers,  about  which  you  are  all  skep- 
tical, and  which  you  are  most  loth  to  admit,  is  the  corrup- 
tion of  human  nature.  While  you  are  all  ready  to  admit 
that  there  is  a  vast  deal  of  vice  and  crime  in  the  world,  you 
cannot  consent  to  any  such  proposition,  as  that  it  is  the 
necessary  product  of  that  nature  of  which  you  yourself  are 
so  fond  and  so  proud.  You  ascribe  it,  in  the  individuals  in 
whom  it  is  exhibited,  to  some  unhappy  taint  of  blood  ;  to 
some  unfortunate  conjuncture  of  circumstances ;  to  some 
special  ill-training ;  to  some  overpowering  temptation  ;  or, 
at  least,  to  some  natural  badness  of  disposition  peculiar  to 
the  individual.  But  this  is  all  false.  Come  with  me  again 
to  the  Cross,  and  let  your  suffering  Saviour  be  my  witness. 
Study  that  sight !  He  that  is  dying  upon  the  Cross  is  a 
Being  of  two  Natures,  —  a  conjunction  in  one  Person  of  the 
human  and  the  Divine.  That  which  is  human  in  Him  is 
suffering  for  the  sin  laid  upon  Him, — for  the  corruption 
of  man  which  has  produced  that  sin.  That  which  is 
Divine  is  supporting  and  sustaining  the  humanity.  The 
manifestations  of  sublime  thoughts  and  words  which  burst 
1  S.  James  ii,  10. 


310  Christ  the  Truth. 

from  His  dying  lips,  are  all  divine ;  they  belong  to  Him  as 
a  part  of  the  God-Man.  You  witness  submission  to  God's 
will  ;  humility  under  trial ;  long-suffering  under  torture ; 
love  in  opposition  to  malice  ;  forgiveness  in  the  midst  of 
taunts,  insults,  and  revilings.  These  manifest  his  Divinity  ! 
Now  cast  your  eyes  upon  those  who  stand  around  that 
dying  Sou  of  God  !  See  those  looks  of  hatred  and  scorn  ! 
Hear  those  taunts  of  ridicule  !  Mark  the  joy  which  beams 
from  their  infuriated  eyes  as  He  evinces  suffering  and  de- 
cay !  Behold  that  wretch  giving  Him  vinegar  and  gall  for 
His  thirst !  See  that  soldier  thrusting  his  spear  into  the 
side  of  Him  that  was  already  dead  !  That,  my  hearer,  is 
your  nature  !  The  sufferer  is  Divine,  without  sin,  worthy  to 
win  the  crown  of  everlasting  glory  as  a  Conqueror.  The 
executioners  and  scoffers  are  human:  and  Christ  is  thus 
made  again  the  witness  to  you  of  a  solemn  truth,  that  man 
cannot  appreciate  Divine  goodness  ;  and  that  the  only  per- 
fect Man  who  ever  lived,  perfect  as  his  Father  in  Heaven  is 
perfect,  was  the  Man  of  deepest  sorrows,  and  of  the  cruel- 
lest sufferings  ;  —  sufferings  even  unto  death,  at  the  hands 
of  those  whom  He  was  sent  to  save  ! 

"  Yes,"  may  you  say,  "  but  these  were  the  Jews  !  "  So 
they  were,  but  that  only  plunges  you  deeper  into  difficulty. 
They  were  the  elect  people  of  God ;  and  from  whom,  there- 
fore, should  we  have  expected  greater  freedom  from  corrup- 
tion than  from  the  Jews  ?  Had  Jehovah  not  committed  to 
them  His  oracles?  Did  not  the  covenant,  and  the  adop- 
tion, and  the  law,  and  the  promises,  pertain  to  them? 
Was  not  our  Lord  Himself  a  Jew  after  the  flesh  ?  Were 
not  His  disciples  and  Apostles  Jews  ?  Were  not  the  great 
company  of  believers,  who  first  illustrated  the  Church, 
Jews  ?  Is  there  any  reply  to  this  ?  Because  the  Jews  are 
now  blinded  and  under  a  curse  for  this  very  Crucifixion, 
they  were  not  always  so.    They  were  the  only  people  then 


Christ  the  Truth. 


upon  earth  in  whom  any  thing  approaching  to  spiritual  life 
and  spiritual  holiness  could  have  heen  found.  Think  you 
that  any  of  the  Gentile  nations  of  whom  S.  Paul  makes 
mention  in  the  first  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
would  have  done  better !  No,  my  hearers ;  this  is  not  a 
door  through  which  you  may  escape.  These  miserable 
men  around  that  Cross  were  Jews ;  but  as  Jews  they  repre- 
sented, at  that  time,  the  most  enlightened  and  most  di- 
vinely instructed  people  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  !  It 
was  an  exhibition  of  human  nature ;  of  your  nature,  my 
hearers,  when  excited  by  passion  and  sin ;  of  that  broken 
and  defiled  image  of  the  Divine  Spirit  which  was  left  you 
when  driven,  a  fallen  and  corrupted  being,  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord  ! 

A  third  point,  which  some  of  you,  and  many  in  the 
world,  count  foolishness,  and  upon  which  you  are  therefore 
skeptical,  and  for  which  Christ  came  to  be  a  witness,  is  the 
necessity  of  an  atonement  for  sin  through  the  shedding  of 
blood.  You  cannot  see,  you  say,  how  it  is,  or  why  it  is, 
that  blood  should  expiate  sin,  and  cleanse  from  all  unright- 
eousness. No  more  can  I,  my  hearer,  —  although  I  may 
see  more  clearly  than  you,  —  pronounce  otherwise  than 
that  so  the  Lord  has  ordered  it :  but  this  I  say,  that  the 
Cross  of  Christ  testifies  to  us  of  the  fact.  Standing  at  the 
foot  of  the  Cross,  I  am  forced  to  believe  it :  for  I  can  find 
no  other  solution  of  His  sufferings  and  Death ;  no  other 
explanation  of  the  effects  which  flowed  from  that  Death.  I 
cannot  understand — if  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  a  mere  exam- 
ple, or  teacher,  or  philosopher  —  why  He  should  have  shed 
His  Blood  upon  the  Cross;  and  especially  why  it  should 
have  been  connected,  through  long  ages,  with  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  goats,  and  with  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice. 
Surely  the  Old  Testament,  the  larger  portion  of  the  Bible, 
has  a  meaning.    God  designed  not  to  trifle  with  His  peo- 

21 


312  Christ  the  Truth. 

pie.  He  did  not  descend  upon  Mount  Sinai  in  the  glory  of 
His  sublime  Majesty,  and  there  detail  the  minute  arrange- 
ments of  sacrificial  offerings,  for  nothing.  Until  they 
pointed  to  something  in  the  future,  they  were  unmeaning 
and  profitless,  not  to  say  foolish.  Would  Jehovah  have 
instituted  these  things  in  His  Law,  and  then  have  permit- 
ted His  prophets,  those  whom  He  inspired  through  His  own 
Spirit,  to  expose  their  impotence  in  the  letter,  unless  there 
was  an  Antitype  to  interpret  and  ratify  every  thing  ?  All 
this  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  —  especially  that  chapter 
which  has  been  read  as  the  Epistle  for  the  Day  —  argues 
fully  and  elaborately  and  conclusively  :  "  For  it  is  not  pos- 
sible that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away 
sins.  Wherefore,  when  He  cometh  into  the  world,  he 
saith,  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  wouldst  not,  but  a  body 
hast  thou  prepared  me,"  No,  my  hearers ;  you  must  cut 
out  the  larger  part  of  the  Revelation  of  God,  you  must 
overlay  His  whole  dealings  with  His  elect  people,  you  must 
charge  Him  with  unmeaning  action,  ere,  standing  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Cross,  you  can  deny  that  the  shedding 
of  Blood  is  connected  with  His  remission  of  sins ! 

Nor  is  there  any  solution  for  the  effects  of  Christ's  death, 
save  in  the  sanctifying  and  converting  power  of  His  Blood. 
Change  the  scene  for  a  moment,  but  I  will  not  carry 
you  out  of  Jerusalem.  I  will  only  ask  you  to  advance  the 
time  for  a  few  weeks,  and  then  to  note  the  strange  scene 
which  is  enacting  by  that  same  multitude  which  hurried 
our  Lord  so  madly  to  Calvary,  and  there  gloated  upon  His 
sufferings.  At  His  Cross,  while  suffering  and  dying,  we 
could  find  but  one  of  His  Apostles :  the  rest  were  scattered 
from  fear  and  disappointment.  Peter  followed,  afar  off. 
In  this  scene  to  which  I  now  invite  your  attention,  we  hear 
those  same  Apostles,  addressing  an  amazed  and  smitten 
multitude ;  so  filled  with  a  holy  enthusiasm  as  to  carry 


Christ  the  Truth. 


313 


them  entirely  away ;  charging  home  upon  them  the  Cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus ;  calling  them,  to  their  faces,  murderers ; 
fixing  His  Blood  upon  them  !  What  means  this  P  What 
has  produced  this  divine  boldness  ?  Do  you  believe,  with 
the  skeptical  gainsayers,  that  they  were  filled  with  new 
wine  ?  Could  new  wine  teach  them  to  speak  in  other 
tongues  ?  Could  new  wine  give  them  the  power  to  make 
that  implacable  multitude,  stained  with  the  guilt  of  the 
death  of  Jesus,  whom  every  word  was  piercing  like  a  sword, 
smite  upon  their  breasts  and  say  :  "  Men  and  brethren, 
what  shall  we  do  P "  As  great  a  change  has  passed  on 
them  as  on  the  Apostles.  From  murderers  they  have  been 
changed  into  penitents  !  From  being  vile  sinners  who  had 
dared  to  say,  "  His  blood  be  on  us  aud  on  our  children," 
they  were  trembling  supplicants,  crying  for  mercy.  From 
being  a  rabble  polluted  with  almost  every  sin,  they  were  now 
the  baptized  disciples  of  Jesus,  the  redeemed  with  that  very 
Blood  which  they  had  shed,  laying  broad  and  deep  the 
foundation  of  the  Church.  What  is  the  solution  for  this  ? 
I  cannot  conceive  why  the  Apostles  should  influence  the 
same  men,  whom  Christ  —  the  Example,  the  Model  —  only 
drove  to  malice  and  persecution ;  why  ignorant  and  un- 
learned fishermen  and  tax-gatherers  should  so  suddenly 
effect  what  all  the  miracles  and  teachings  of  Christ  had 
failed  to  do  :  unless  I  receive  what  I  think  that  the  Bible 
clearly  teaches,  —  that  His  Blood  had  cleansed  and  sancti- 
fied both  Apostles  and  multitude,  and  had  worked  within 
them  the  new  life  of  spiritual  power. 

Such  was  the  way  in  which  our  Lord  was  a  witness  to 
the  truth.  He  was  born  for  that  end  and  purpose.  He 
was  a  witness  to  it  through  His  whole  life,  using  its  force 
to  break  up  old  opinions,  to  clear  away  traditional  rubbish, 
to  develop  the  proper  idea  of  God  and  His  kingdom.  He 
bore  witness  to  it  in  His  death,  exhibiting  and  enforcing 


314  Christ  the  Truth, 

the  sublime  ideas  which  I  have  developed  in  the  early  part 
of  my  sermon.  And  now  He  rules  by  the  power  of  truth, 
and  witnesses  to  it  daily  and  forever  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
It  was  foretold,  in  Isaiah,  that  He  should  be  a  witness  to 
the  people,  —  a  leader  and  commander  to  the  people  ;  and  so 
He  is.  The  whole  foundation  of  Christ's  kingdom  is  Truth, 
Divine  Truth :  and  therefore  it  is  the  Rock  against  which 
all  error  is  being  perpetually  dashed  to  pieces.  Its  spirit  and 
genius  are  truth.  "  Christ  conquers,"  as  one  has  well  said, 
"  by  the  convincing  evidence  of  Truth ;  rules  by  the  com- 
manding power  of  Truth ;  and  in  His  Majesty  rides  pros- 
perously, because  of  Truth.  It  is  c  with  His  truth,'  as  the 
Psalmist  says,  that  He  shall  c  judge  the  people.'  It  is  the 
sceptre  of  His  Kingdom.  He  draws  men  to  him  by  its 
cords,  and  brings  their  thoughts  into  obedience  to  it ;  and 
thus  He  rules  over  His  subjects  through  conviction  and 
Love."    Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  His  voice. 

Solemn  words  are  these  of  Christ,  with  which  He  closed 
His  answer  to  Pilate :  "  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth 
heareth  my  voice."  What  then  of  those  who  hear  not 
Christ's  voice  P  —  of  the  many,  many  who  cling  to  the  old 
errors  of  the  world's  philosophy,  or  are  carried  away  by  the 
current  fancies  of  the  day  ?  Remember  that,  in  the  Bible, 
Satan  is  called  the  father  of  lies ;  and  is  in  direct  antago- 
nism to  our  Lord  who  is  "  the  truth."  If  you  hear  not 
Christ's  voice,  as  it  speaks  to  you  through  His  Word  and 
the  action  of  His  Church  (but  especially  from  His  Cross), 
whose  voice  are  you  listening  to  ?  The  one  tells  you,  by 
all  His  sufferings  for  you,  that  this  world  is  but  a  passing 
show,  full  of  illusions,  a  vale  of  misery  through  which  you 
must  pass  in  darkness  and  much  sorrow  :  the  other,  that  it 
is  full  of  pleasures ;  that  it  is  the  only  reality  of  life ;  that 
you  are  certain  of  nothing  better;  and  that  if  you  give  this 
life  up  to  God,  you  will  be  giving  up  every  thing  which  is 


Christ  the  Truth,  315 

really  yours.  Which  voice  will  you  hear  ?  To  which  king- 
dom will  you  belong  ?  Truth  and  error  are  offered  to  you,  — 
the  one  by  Christ,  the  other  by  the  Devil.  There  is  no  mid- 
dle ground.  Truth  is  one  and  immutable.  Error  is  man- 
ifold, spewing  out  its  horrid  spawn  in  shoals ;  and,  like  the 
chameleon,  changing  its  hue,  that  it  may  deceive  and  elude. 
There  was  a  time  when  Error  had  all  the  advantage ;  but 
the  times  of  that  ignorance  are  passed,  and  Truth  is,  for 
you,  manifest  in  the  Person  of  Christ.  The  life  of  Christ 
has  taught  the  world  that  virtue,  active  virtue,  finds  no 
favor  in  it ;  has  but  little  chance  of  life  or  influence ;  wins 
no  prizes  of  riches  or  honor ;  and  often  goes  down  in  sor- 
row to  the  grave.  His  Death  has  taught  it,  just  as  plainly, 
that  sin  is  the  curse  which  is  most  odious  to  God,  and 
should  be  most  hateful  to  man  ;  that  we  are  all  sinners,  — ■ 
corrupt,  and  dark,  and  allied  to  error ;  that  His  Blood  alone 
can  change  us,  and  bring  us  from  darkness  into  light.  If 
you  will  hear  the  Voice  which  cometh  from  this  Life  and 
from  this  Death,  then  shall  you  be  blessed,  my  hearer,  for 
time  and  for  eternity.  Be  not  satisfied  until  Truth  is  a 
part  and  parcel  of  your  being  ;  until  you  are  ma  de  one  with 
Him  who  is  the  Truth,  even  as  He  is  one  with  His  Father, 
the  Fountain  and  Source  of  all  things  for  the  universe. 

1866. 


Ctoentynmtfy  Sermon* 


But  Mary  stood  without  at  the  sepulchre  weeping :  and  as  she- 
wept  she  stooped  down  and  looked  into  the  sepulchre,  and  seeth  two 
angels  in  white,  sitting,  the  one  at  the  head,  and  the  other  at  the  feet, 
where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain.  And  they  say  unto  her,  Woman, 
why  weepest  thou  ?  She  saith  unto  them,  Because  they  have  taken 
away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  they  have  laid  him.  And 
when  she  had  thus  said,  she  turned  herself  back,  and  saw  Jesus 
standing,  and  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus.  —  S.  John  xx.  11-14. 

fipHE  grave  and  a  woman  weeping  over  it,  is  the  standing 
-■-  witness  of  the  curse  which  sin  has  brought  upon  the 
world.  Wherever  there  is  a  home,  there  is  a  grave ;  and 
wherever  there  is  a  grave  there  is  a  woman  weeping  over  it. 
It  would  seem  as  if  the  keenest  punishment  visited  upon 
woman,  because  of  her  having  been  first  in  the  transgres- 
sion, has  been  inflicted  upon  her  through  her  affections. 
Because  of  the  depth  of  them,  she  clings  to  those  she 
loves  through  every  sorrow  of  life ;  and  because  of  their 
permanence,  she  hovers,  weeping,  around  their  graves. 
Mary,  by  the  sepulchre  of  Jesus,  was  the  type  of  woman- 
hood ;  and  her  attitude  of  sorrow,  as  she  stands  gazing 
upon  that  burial-place  of  her  hopes  and  her  affections,  was 
that  of  woman  wherever  we  meet  her  upon  earth.  Like 
Mary,  she  often  goes  there  without  faith  or  hope,  looking 
at  the  earth  which  covers  all  she  loves,  yet  comforting  her- 
self by  weeping  over  it.  She  looked  upon  the  grave  as  a 
devouring  enemy  which  had  swallowed  up  all  her  present 
joy,  and  separated  her  forever  from  the  desire  of  her  eyes. 
And  oh !  how  long  has  she  stood  there  without  any  ground 


Woman,  why  weepest  Thou  I  317 

of  hope,  or  any  room  for  faith.  Long  weary  years  rolled 
away,  before  Jesus  came,  and  in  His  resurrection  opened 
for  her  the  glorious  vision  of  hope  through  the  dew  of  His 
blood  !  We  pity  those  who,  in  the  ages  of  that  ignorance, 
stood  "  like  Niobe,  all  tears : 93  but  our  pity  gives  place  to 
amazement  when  we  see  her  still  clinging  to  the  inanimate 
dust.  For  surely  the  coming  of  Christ  has  changed  the 
aspect  of  every  thing  connected  with  death,  as  well  as  with 
life.  The  grave  is  no  longer  what  the  grave  has  been.  It 
still  hides  from  us  the  bodies  of  those  we  love  :  but  hides 
them  only  as  the  earth  hides  the  seed  while  it  is  preparing 
to  renew  its  life  ;  only  as  the  chrysalis  hides  the  worm  while 
it  is  changing  into  a  thing  of  beauty,  no  longer  to  creep 
upon  the  earth,  but  to  soar  in  the  atmosphere  of  Heaven. 
Woman  may  still  haunt  the  graves  of  those  she  loves  and 
may  still  weep  there,  but  not  as  she  wept  of  yore  :  for  "  I 
would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  brethren,"  says  S.  Paul, 
"  concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow  not, 
even  as  others  which  have  no  hope.  For  if  we  believe  that 
Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep 
in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him."1  Once  the  grave 
seemed  indeed  the  end  of  all  to  man;  and  as  the  loving 
heart  stood  by  it,  it  had  cause  to  weep,  —  to  weep  as  those 
which  had  no  hope.  It  looked  icy  and  impenetrable.  It 
appeared  to  bear  the  motto  which  the  fancy  of  Dante  in- 
scribed over  the  portals  of  his  Inferno :  "  Let  all  that  enter 
here  leave  hope  behind."  No  wonder  that  even  Mary  stood 
by  the  sepulchre  weeping :  for  she  had  not  yet  learned  the 
glorious  truth  that  the  weakest  Christian  can  now  lay  his 
hand  upon  the  dust  of  which  he  was  formed  and  to  which 
he  is  doomed  to  return,  and  can  exultingly  ask,  "  0  grave, 
where  is  thy  victory  ?  "  and,  in  the  very  face  of  Death,  can 
utter  over  his  dead  the  consoling  strain  of  prophecy; 
1 1  Thess.  iv.  13,  14. 


31 8  Woman,  why  weepest  Thou  ? 

"  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  dust :  for  thy  dew  is 
as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall  cast  out  the 
dead."  1 

But  Mary  was  not  satisfied  with  mere  weeping.  She 
needed  more  comfort  than  tears  could  give  her.  She  must 
look  into  the  sepulchre,  and  see  the  loved  Body  of  Jesus 
for  herself.  She  must  understand  the  secrets  of  that  dread 
grave  which  was  closing  up  forever  her  heart,  and  cutting 
off  all  the  rich  hopes  which  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
had  waked  within  her  bosom  and  the  bosom  of  the  Disci- 
ples. She  was  not  satisfied  with  the  report  of  others  ;  she 
would  examine  the  sepulchre  for  herself.  And  her  faithful- 
ness received  its  due  reward.  She  did  not  at  first  find 
Jesus  ;  but  she  found  Angels  who  instructed  and  comforted 
her ;  —  messengers  sent  from  God  to  do  honor  to  His  be- 
loved Son,  and  to  teach  her  that  there  was  no  gloom  here- 
after in  the  grave,  no  barrier  that  could  not  be  broken 
through,  no  stone  that  could  not  be  rolled  from  the  door  of 
the  sepulchre.  She  saw  them  —  for  her  eyes  were  now 
opened  to  perceive  them  —  "  sitting,  the  one  at  the  head, 
and  the  other  at  the  feet,  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain." 
As  one  has  beautifully  said  :  "  His  resting-place  was  be- 
tween two  Angels,  like  the  mercy-seat  of  old.  Even  in  His 
death  He  is  found  to  have  dwelt,  as  of  old,  between  the 
clierubiui." 

If  we,  my  beloved  people,  need  comfort  at  the  grave,  we 
must  find  it,  as  Mary  did,  by  looking  into  the  sepulchre. 
We  must  not  be  satisfied  to  gaze  upon  the  mound  of  earth 
which  covers  our  dead,  or  to  look  upon  the  sepulchre  which 
holds  their  bodies :  but  we  must  endeavor  to  look  into  it, 
and  to  study  it  for  ourselves.  "We  must  not  be  afraid  of 
looking  Death  in  the  face ;  nor  of  standing  by  the  grave, 
and  demanding  its  secrets.    If  we  go  there  boldly  in  the 

1  Isaiah  xxvi.  19. 


Woman,  why  weepest  Thou  ?  319 

name  of  Jesus,  we  too  shall  find  angels  to  instruct  and  com- 
fort us.  We  must  not  trust  to  others  in  a  matter  like  this : 
we  must  search  for  ourselves.  Death  is  too  terrible  an 
enemy  for  us  to  pass  him  by  without  contesting  his  claims 
to  hold  us  in  bondage.  The  grave  is  too  dark  a  pit  for  us 
to  lie  in,  passive  and  submissive,  without  endeavoring  to 
throw  light  upon  its  darkness.  And  it  rests  now  with  our- 
selves to  understand  it  all,  through  faith.  If,  instead  of 
merely  weeping  at  the  sepulchre,  we  will  pierce  into  it,  we 
shall  find  prophets  and  Apostles  and  the  Son  of  God  Him- 
self, —  messengers  from  God,  angels,  and  more  than  angels, 
—  ready  to  enlighten  us  ;  full  of  hope,  and  full  of  comfort : 
shedding  into  its  darkest  recesses  light  and  immortality. 
We  ought  never,  in  these  days,  to  stand  by  the  grave  with- 
out the  Bible  in  our  hands.  Instead  of  weeping  there,  we 
should  read  the  story  of  Jesus  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus. 
We  should  dwell  upon  his  solemn  words :  "I  am  the  Res- 
urrection and  the  Life ; "  and  we  should  elucidate  them 
through  these  scenes  which  the  Church  illustrates  to-day. 
The  Gospels  contain  the  utterances  of  our  angels ;  and  we 
should  never  look  upon  a  grave  without  seeing  them  sitting 
there,  and  uttering  to  us  the  words  of  comfort  and  of  hope. 
Poor  creatures  of  sense  that  we  are !  because  we  do  not  see, 
we  cannot  believe.  Because  the  grave  does  not  open  for  us, 
and  we  do  not  behold  the  angels  sitting  there,  we  cannot 
take  in  the  glorious  truth  that  the  dust  of  those  we  love  is 
watched  over  by  the  eyes  of  Jesus,  —  is  consecrated  dust, 
waiting  only  for  the  signal  from  its  ascended  Redeemer  to 
spring  to  life,  immortal,  glorious,  spiritual !  And  yet  these 
messengers  of  God  tell  us  so ;  point  us  to  the  empty  grave 
of  Jesus ;  and  sound  in  our  ears  what  ought  to  be  the 
words  of  the  world's  jubilee :  £e  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live 
also  !  " 1  Oh  that  we  could  have  faith  but  as  a  grain  of  mus- 

1  S.  John  xiv.  19. 


320  Woman,  why  weepest  Thou  t 

tard  seed  !  —  how  should  we  then  rise  above  these  darkest 
shadows  of  our  life,  Death  and  the  Grave,  and  dwell  in  an 
atmosphere  of  hope,  sorrowing  over  those  we  love,  because 
they  are  separated  from  us,  but  yet  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of 
everlasting  life ! 

The  question  of  the  Angels  to  Mary  when  they  saw  her 
weeping  at  such  a  scene  of  wonder  and  of  glory,  was  just 
such  a  question  as  Angels  only  would  have  asked :  "Woman, 
why  weepest  thou  ?  "  Men  would  never  have  asked  such 
a  question,  when  they  saw  a  woman  weeping  at  a  grave. 
They  would  have  known  too  well  its  meaning.  They  would 
at  once  have  understood,  from  what  themselves  had  wit- 
nessed and  experienced  of  life,  the  reason  for  her  tears. 
She  was  standing  near  a  sepulchre :  that  was  enough  for 
man.  Tears  and  the  grave  had  been  ever  associated  in 
their  minds.  But  when  the  angels  saw  her  weeping,  they 
only  marvelled  :  for  they  had  no  knowledge  of  Death  or  of 
the  grave.  No  such  curse  had  ever  fallen  upon  them.  No 
such  enemies  had  ever  been  known  in  Heaven  among  un- 
fallen  spirits.  And  what  they  now  knew  of  death  and  of 
the  grave,  was  associated  with  victory  and  triumph,  —  with 
the  overthrow  of  him  who  had  the  power  of  death.  They 
saw  her  weeping,  when  she  should  have  been  shouting  for 
joy ;  lamenting,  when  she  should  have  been  singing  Alle- 
luia to  Him  who  had  put  under  His  feet  the  cruellest  ene- 
mies of  her  race.  She  found  comfort,  but  no  sympathy. 
They  could  not  even  comprehend  her  tears :  "  Woman,  why 
weepest  thou  ? "  Heaven  is  glowing  with  one  universal 
feeling  of  exultation.  Its  hosts  are  marshalling  to  wel- 
come the  Conqueror  home ;  and  thousands  and  ten  thou- 
sands of  Angels  are  tuning  their  harps  to  the  refrain  : 
"Lift  up  your  heads,  0  ye  gates;  and  be  ye  lift  up,  ye 
everlasting  doors :  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in. 
Who  is  this  King  of  glory  ?  the  Lord  strong  and  mighty, 


Woman,  why  weepest  Tkotc  ?  321 

the  Loed  mighty  in  battle." 1  "  Why  weepest  thou  ?  "  It 
was  not  for  Angels  that  He  died ;  it  was  for  you.  It  was 
not  for  the  unfallen  hosts  of  Heaven  that  He  was  laid  in 
this  sepulchre ;  it  was  for  you :  and  yet  thou  weepest  at 
His  victory !  If  they  are  tears  of  joy,  we  can  comprehend 
them ;  hut  tears  such  as  woman  has  shed  in  the  past  over 
the  grave,  have  no  place  here.  The  sepulchre  is  hence- 
forth the  burial-place  of  grief.  Woman  is  to  find  here, 
in  the  future,  the  source  of  all  her  hopes,  —  the  fountain 
of  a  love  which  is  to  he  undying  ! 

And  as  the  Angels  asked  this  question  of  Mary,  so  may 
we,  the  messengers  of  this  risen  Saviour,  ask  it  of  every 
one  of  you  who  has  a  Christian  hope.  Weak  as  we  are 
ourselves  ;  trembling  as  we  do  before  Death  and  the  Grave ; 
we  feel,  as  the  ambassadors  of  God,  that  we  can  yet  ask 
you  :  "  Why  weepest  thou  ?  "  I  know  that  Love  is  strong 
as  Death  ;  that  nature  has  a  yearning  which  cannot  be  sat- 
isfied with  words ;  but  we  have  that  here,  in  the  incidents 
of  this  scene,  which  are  much  more  than  words.  They  are 
acts,  —  acts  of  the  sublimest  import,  performed  by  the  Son 
of  God  Himself ;  done  for  us  his  creatures  ;  wielded  against 
our  bitterest  and  most  cruel  enemies.  Weep  not,  woman, 
at  least  for  to-day !  Dry  your  tears,  however  full  may  be 
your  heart,  while  standing  with  Mary  at  the  sepulchre  of 
Jesus  !  What  the  angels  implied  in  their  question  to  her, 
they  implied  for  your  sake.  As  old  Bishop  Andre wes  said : 
"  They  mean,  that  she  had  no  cause  to  weep.  She  weeps 
because  she  found  the  grave  empty,  which  God  forbid  she 
should  have  found  full !  —  for  then  Christ  must  have  been 
dead  still;  and  so,  no  Resurrection.  And  this  case  of 
Mary  Magdalene  is  our  case  oftentimes :  in  the  error  of 
our  conceit,  to  weep  where  we  have  no  cause ;  to  joy  where 
we  have  as  little.    Where  we  have  cause  to  joy,  we  weep  ; 

1  Psalm  xxiv.  7,  8. 

21 


322  Woman,  why  weepest  Thou  ? 

and  where  to  weep,  we  joy.  False  joys  and  false  sorrows, 
false  hopes  and  false  fears,  this  life  of  ours  is  full  of.  God 
help  us  !  " 

And  this,  mourner,  is  one  of  the  occasions  upon  which 
you  are  weeping1,  when  you  should  be  rejoicing  !  You  are 
indulging  a  false  sorrow,  if  you  be  weeping  over  one  that 
is  asleep  in  Jesus.  "  He  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth."  He  is 
taking  rest  after  the  sharp  battle  of  life,  awaiting  in  hope 
the  final  resurrection.  Jesus  is  guarding  his  dust,  and 
the  grave  is  sanctified  by  angels'  presence,  because  it  is 
sown  with  seeds  of  immortality.  Strive  to  lay  aside  your 
spirit  of  heaviness,  and  to  receive  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourn- 
ing !  Trust  your  dead  to  Him  who  Himself  has  died,  and 
can  sympathize  with  the  dead  far  more  than  you.  Leave 
their  ashes  with  Him  who  Himself  has  lain  for  days  in  the 
grave,  and  knows  far  better  than  you  what  the  departed 
spirit  needs.  The  lesson  we  have  to  learn,  and  which  we 
find  it  so  hard  to  learn,  is  that  a  loving  God  is  with  us  at 
all  times  and  in  all  places :  with  us  in  life,  with  us  in  death, 
and  with  us  when  sleeping  in  the  grave  as  well  as  when 
sleeping  upon  our  beds.  He  never  leaves  us,  nor  forsakes 
us.  He  breathes  into  us  the  breath  of  life  ;  He  carries  us 
in  His  arms  when  we  are  weak  or  sick ;  He  guards  us  from 
perils  and  dangers,  both  of  body  and  soul ;  He  walks  with 
us  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  Death ;  He  receives 
our  spirits  as  we  pass  under  the  yoke  of  our  last  enemy ; 
and  He  commands  the  earth  to  hold  our  dust  until  the  last 
trump  shall  summon  our  bodies  from  this  universal  sepul- 
chre. We  are  in  no  more  danger  in  the  grave  than  in  our 
beds.  God  takes  equal  care  of  us  in  the  one  as  in  the 
other.  "  Woman,  why  weepest  thou"  at  witnessing  the 
scene  which  has  produced  all  this  ?  It  is  a  false  sorrow  : 
not  a  pretended,  but  a  false  sorrow ! 

The  answer  of  Mary  showed  that  while  her  affection  was 


Woman,  why  weep  est  Thou  ?  323 

strong,  her  faith  was  weak.  "  She  saith  uuto  them,  Be- 
cause they  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I  know  not 
where  they  haye  laid  him."  She  was  thinking  of  the  be- 
loved Master  for  whom  her  heart  yearned,  and  not  of  the 
rising*  again  in  three  days  which  He  had  told  them  of. 
She  seemed  to  have  forgotten  every  thing  in  her  grief,  — 
His  promises,  His  power  over  death,  His  Divinity,  the  signs 
and  wonders  which  had  accompanied  His  Death.  Her  wo- 
man's heart  had  driven  out  her  remembrance  of  all  these 
things,  and  her  simple  cry  was,  "  The  Body,  the  Body !  " 
As  Matthew  Henry  says  :  "  Mary  Magdalene  is  not  diverted 
from  her  inquiries  by  the  surprise  of  the  vision,  nor  satis- 
fied with  the  honor  of  it ;  but  still  she  harps  upon  the 
same  string :  £  They  have  taken  away  my  Lord.'  A  sight 
of  Angels  and  their  smiles  will  not  suffice,  without  a  sight 
of  Christ,  and  God's  smiles  in  him."  He  had  been  every 
thing  to  her,  for  it  was  she  out  of  whom  He  had  cast  seven 
devils  :  and  she  had  rather  find  his  dead  Body  than  hear  of 
any  thing  else. 

And  as  with  Mary,  so  with  us  in  our  grief.  We  forget 
every  thing  in  the  intensity  of  our  love.  We  crave  the 
body  which  has  been  taken  from  us,  and  are  impatient  at 
any  words  which  are  used  to  divert  us  from  our  grief.  Mary 
would  scarcely  listen  to  the  Angels  :  and  thus  too,  the 
grieved  and  smitten  heart  turns  away,  in  the  first  bitterness 
of  its  grief,  from  the  messages  of  comfort  which  are  writ- 
ten for  its  balm  in  the  Word  of  the  Gospel.  She  grieved 
for  Jesus,  who  had  life  in  Himself,  —  who  could  lay  it  down 
and  take  it  again.  We  grieve  for  those  who  can  have  no 
more  life  save  in  the  power  of  His  resurrection.  Instead 
of  seeking  Him  at  once,  and  turning  to  Him,  and  clinging 
to  Him  for  comfort :  we  cry  out  for  the  body,  —  the  body 
that  we  loved  !  Oh  slow  of  heart  to  believe !  The  body 
could  not  help  you,  for  the  spirit  of  life  is  gone.  Christ 


324  Woman,  why  weep  est  Thou  ? 

alone  can  help  you,  who  is  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  — 
who  in  the  fullness  of  time  will  give  you  hack  that  body,  a 
new  creation :  changed,  as  S.  Paul  says,  from  corruption  to 
incorruption,  from  weakness  to  power,  from  dishonor  to 
glory,  from  a  natural  body  to  a  spiritual  body.  How  much 
better  to  wait  upon  the  will  of  the  Lord,  and  upon  the  ap- 
pointed process  of  change,  than  to  permit  your  private  griefs 
to  break  through  the  bounds  of  His  love  and  interfere  with 
His  gracious  purposes  !  "  In  your  patience  possess  ye  your 
souls,"1  Patience  has  its  work  in  grief,  as  well  as  in  trial 
and  temptation  ;  and  must  be  allowed  to  have  her  perfect 
work.  If  that  Body  for  which  Mary  stood  weeping  had  not 
been  taken  away,  what  should  have  become  of  her,  and  us, 
and  all  our  race  ?  For  "  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our 
preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain/' 1  And  as  with 
that  body  of  our  Lord,  so  likewise  with  those  bodies  after 
which  we  are  craving.  Unless  they  were  taken  from  us, 
the  order  of  the  world  could  not  go  on  ;  Christ  could  not 
make  up  the  number  of  his  elect ;  the  fullness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles could  not  come  in ;  and  the  whole  purpose  of  the  econ- 
omy of  grace  should  be  impeded,  if  not  frustrated.  Are 
we  ready  for  these  things  ?  Should  we  not  rather  add  our 
loved  ones  to  the  gathering  crowd  of  the  redeemed,  than 
clog  the  chariot  wheels  of  the  Redeemer's  triumphal  march 
by  our  selfish  wishes  ?  Surely  the  glory  that  awaits  those 
who  die  in  Christ  should  help  to  satisfy  our  hearts  ! 

During  the  time  that  the  Congregational  churches  of  the 
Eastern  States  were  many  of  them  insidiously  passing  into 
Unitarianism,  and  the  ministers  were  leaving  Christ  and  His 
atoning  Blood  out  of  their  prayers  and  sermons,  one  of 
these  ministers,  as  he  came  from  a  service  in  which  his 
Saviour  had  been  but  little  noticed  or  honored,  met  one  of 
his  old  communicants  weeping  in  the  porch  of  his  meeting- 
1  S.  Luke  xxi.  19.  2  1  Cor.  xv.  14. 


Woman,  why  weep  est  Thou  ?  325 

house.  He  asked  her  the  very  question  which  the  Angels 
asked  of  Mary :  "  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?  93  And  her 
answer  was,  like  Mary's :  "  Because  you  have  taken  away 
my  Lord,  and  I  know  not  where  you  have  laid  Him.*'  This, 
my  hearer,  should  be  indeed  to  you  a  sufficient  cause  for 
weeping,  if  indeed  you  should  find  that  your  Lord  had  been 
taken  away  from  you,  —  taken  away  from  you  because  you 
were  not  worthy  of  haying  Him  ;  because  you  did  not  value 
His  presence :  because  you  set  up  idols  in  your  heart  which 
drove  Him  thence.  Bitter  cause  have  you  for  weeping,  if 
this  be  your  condition :  for  now  are  you  weeping,  not  at 
the  emptiness  of  the  sepulchre,  but  at  the  desolation  of 
your  own  heart :  not  at  one  loved  object  taken  from  you, 
but  at  the  ashes  and  dust  into  which  every  thing  Las 
changed  within  you.  Look  to  it  lest  your  earthly  grief  pro- 
duce this  effect  upon  you,  —  lest  the  idolatry  of  your  heart 
for  the  dead,  drive  Christ  away  from  you  ! 

The  end  of  it  was,  that  Christ  rewarded  her  love  by  man- 
ifesting Himself  unto  her :  "  And  when  she  had  thus  said, 
she  turned  herself  back,  and  saw  Jesus  standing,  and  knew 
not  that  it  was  Jesus.*'  As  one  has  well  said  :  "  Before 
they  had  given  her  any  answer,  Christ  steps  in  Himself  to 
satisfy  her  inquiries ;  for  God  now  speaketh  to  us  by  His 
Son :  none  but  He  Himself  can  direct  us  to  Himself. 
Mary  would  fain  know  where  her  Lord  is ;  and  behold,  He 
is  at  her  right  hand.  Those  that  will  be  content  with  noth- 
ing short  of  a  sight  of  Christ,  shall  be  put  off  with  nothing 
less.  Is  it  Christ  that  thou  wouldst  have  ?  Christ  thou 
shalt  have."  He  may  hide  Himself  for  a  little  moment,  so 
that  thou  shalt  not  know  Him :  but  nevertheless  He  is  by 
thee,  even  though  thou  dost  not  for  the  moment  recognize 
Him.  He  hid  himself,  that  He  might  try  Mary's  love  and 
faith  :  but  they  stood  firm  through  every  test ;  and  she 
found,  not  a  dead  Body,  but  a  living  Saviour ! 


326  Woman,  why  weepest  Thou  ? 

And  so  will  it  always  be,  iny  beloved  people,  with  those 
who  seek  Christ  in  sincerity,  with  earnestness  and  love. 
They  may  not  find  Him  at  once :  but  they  will  surely  find 
Him  at  last.  Sense  may  be  no  judge  of  the  presence  of 
Christ.  "  Sometimes  it  pleases  our  Saviour  to  appear  unto 
his,  not  like  Himself :  His  holy  disguises  are  our  trials." 
But  He  is  leading  us  on,  often  with  tears  in  our  eyes, 
among  the  graves  :  but  always  to  light  and  joy.  Be  not 
afraid  to  follow  Him :  all  will  be  right  at  the  last. 

We  began  with  weeping,  and  end  with  joy.  And  thus 
are  fulfilled  those  rich  words  of  Scripture  :  "  He  that  goeth 
forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless 
come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him."  1 
Mary  went  to  the  sepulchre,  loving,  but  hopeless :  she 
came  back  bearing  the  joyful  tidings  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion. She  went  there  rich  in  affection,  but  weak  in  faith : 
she  returned,  her  faith  having  been  changed  into  sight. 
And  this  is  Life,  if  we  use  it  aright.  Begun  in  tears ; 
spent  weeping  among  graves :  we  may  end  it  in  the  arms 
of  a  risen  and  glorified  Saviour ;  asking,  in  the  full  assur- 
ance of  hope  :  "  0  Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?    0  Grave, 

where  is  thy  victory  ?  " 

J         J  1866. 

1  Psalm  cxxyi.  6. 


C^trtiet^  Sermon* 


And  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully  come,  they  were  all  with 
one  accord  in  one  place.  And  suddenly  there  came  a  sound  from 
heaven  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all  the  house 
where  they  were  sitting.  And  there  appeared  unto  them  cloven 
tongues  like  as  of  fire,  and  it  sat  upon  each  of  them.  And  they 
were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with  other 
tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance.  —  Acts  ii.  1-4. 

rilHE  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  the  Father  for  which 
Christ  had  commanded  His  Apostles  to  wait  at  Jerusa- 
lem, found  them  all  assembled  upon  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
with  one  accord,  in  one  place.  "  Behold,  how  good  and 
how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity  ! 
It  is  like  the  precious  ointment  upon  the  head,  that  ran 
down  upon  the  beard,  even  Aaron's  beard  :  that  went  down 
to  the  skirts  of  his  garments ;  as  the  dew  of  Hermon,  and 
as  the  dew  that  descended  upon  the  mountains  of  Zion :  for 
there  the  Lord  commanded  the  blessing,  even  life  for  ever- 
more." 1  And  not  only  is  it  like  them,  but  it  produces 
them  :  for  lo  !  here  upon  these  brethren,  mingled  together 
in  love  and  prayer,  descends  the  Holy  Ghost,  —  the  Anti- 
type of  that  very  sacred  oil  which  consecrated  Aaron  to  his 
priesthood,  of  that  dew  of  Hermon  which  filled  with  life 
and  beauty  the  mountains  of  Zion.  May  the  eye  of  the 
Holy  God,  that  Eye  which  searcheth  the  reins  and  the 
heart,  perceive  in  us  such  charity,  such  faith,  such  unanim- 
ity, that  at  least  a  little  of  that  oil  may  trickle  upon  us, 

1  Psalm  cxxxiii. 


328  The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

who  are  as  it  were  the  skirts  of  the  garment  of  our  Aaron, 
—  that  something  of  the  dew  of  Hermon  may  descend 
upon  us,  reviving  us  unto  life  everlasting.  "  Now  is  the 
accepted  time,"  1  for  "  the  day  of  Pentecost "  is  "  fully 
come." 

Every  thing  under  the  Old  Testament  was  arranged  for 
the  more  perfect  covenant  which  was  to  be  made  in  the  lat- 
ter days,  —  that  covenant  which  was  designated  by  the  writ- 
ing of  the  law  upon  the  heart :  the  event  that  we  celebrate 
to-day.  Whatever  was  arranged  by  Moses  was  arranged 
after  the  pattern  in  the  Mount,  after  the  directions  uttered 
by  the  mouth  of  Jehovah.  Nothing  was  contrived  by  him- 
self. When  he  spake  to  the  Israelites,  he  was  but  the 
mouthpiece  of  their  God ;  and  that  God,  who  saw  the  end 
of  every  thing  from  the  beginning,  took  in,  in  his  disposi- 
tions of  the  Old  Testament  ritual,  that  completer  mani- 
festation of  the  Godhead  which  was  to  be  made  when  the 
fullness  of  time  was  come.  It  was  by  no  chance,  then,  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  came  down  upon  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
No  !  that  was  the  day  ordained,  fixed  upon,  sealed,  "  from 
the  beginning,  or  ever  the  earth  was."  2  Its  meaning  was 
'  deep;  and  unless  we  read  that  meaning,  much  that  is 
beautiful  in  the  correspondency  and  harmony  of  things  is 
lost. 

The  lamb  that  was  slain  at  that  first  memorable  Passo- 
ver which  the  Israelites  ate  the  night  they  were  delivered 
from  Egyptian  bondage,  was  typical  of  that  "  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world," 3  whose  death  the 
Church  commemorates  at  a  period  correspondent  with  the 
Jewish  Passover.  Reckoning  fifty  days  from  that  Passover, 
the  Jews  received  the  Law  from  Sinai,  —  received  it  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  a  day  forever  memorable  in  their  annals 
as  linking  them  with  Deity  in  the  closest  bonds  of  govern- 

1  2  Cor.  vi.  2.  2  Pro  v.  viii.  23.  3  Rev.  xiii.  8. 


The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  329 

merit.  Thenceforward  their  whole  polity  was  theocratic ; 
God  lived  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  was  their  King :  so 
plainly  such,  that  He  said  to  Samuel,  when  that  prophet 
mourned  in  vexation  that  the  Israelites  would  have  a  king : 
"  Hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  people  in  all  that  they 
say  unto  thee  :  for  they  have  not  rejected  thee,  but  they 
have  rejected  me,  that  I  should  not  reign  over  them."  1 

Ever  after  that  was  He  to  be  found  over  the  mercy-seat, 
the  place  of  His  abode  with  the  children  of  men. 

It  was  in  rich  harmony,  therefore,  that  upon  the  day  of 
Pentecost  the  new  Law,  spoken  of  by  the  prophets,  should 
be  written  in  fire,  by  the  finger  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  upon 
the  hearts  of  the  Apostles.  That  which  made  the  day 
illustrious  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  was  to 
pass  away ;  but  not  so  the  glory  of  the  day  :  for  even  as 
the  glory  of  the  latter  house  was  greater  than  the  glory  of 
the  former  house,  because  it  enshrined  Christ  when  incar- 
nate ;  so  does  the  day  of  Pentecost  exceed  in  dignity  and 
majesty  its  ancient  renown,  because  upon  it  the  Godhead 
removed  from  temples  of  wood  and  stone,  and  took  up  an 
abode  in  the  hearts  of  the  faithful.  A  new  Law,  and  a 
new  place  of  abode  for  the  Godhead  :  but  no  new  day.  The  - 
day  of  Pentecost  for  both.  God  never  changes  that  which 
needs  no  change.  Moses'  law  must  be  changed  into 
Christ's  Law;  the  Covenant  which  gendered  to  bondage, 
into  that  which  was  full  of  liberty :  but  both  must  bear 
the  same  relation  to  the  Death  of  the  Lamb,  to  teach  us 
that  while  they  differ  in  their  terms,  they  are  the  same  in 
essence  and  in  truth. 

Another  harmony  is  given  us  by  S.  Chrysostom,  which  is 
full  of  beauty  and  fitness.  At  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  under 
the  law,  was  the  sickle  put  into  the  corn,  the  first  fruits  of 
which  had  been  offered  up  just  fifty  days  before,  at  the  feast 

1 1  Sam.  vm.  7. 


330  The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

of  the  Passover.  Under  the  Gospel,  it  was  gloriously  cor- 
respondent that,  at  the  same  feast  of  Pentecost,  the  sickle 
should  he  put  into  the  harvest  of  souls,  Christ  the  first- 
fruits  having  offered  Himself  before  the  Lord  just  fifty  days 
before,  when  He  burst  the  grave  and  rose  triumphant  to 
His  Father.  'The  great  spiritual  harvest  which  began  at 
this  Feast,  and  which  has  ever  since  continued,  is  but 
the  fulfillment,  the  reality,  the  substance,  of  that  harvest 
which  the  Israelites  yearly  gathered  in  :  they,  like  men, 
rejoicing  over  the  weighty  sheaves  which  filled  their  land 
with  plenty ;  Jehovah,  God-like,  in  the  many  souls  that  the 
love  of  the  Son,  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  were  to 
gather  into  the  Kingdom  of  Glory.  How  beautiful  it  is, 
thus  to  see  the  invisible  in  the  visible,  to  lay  over  against 
the  works  of  Nature  and  the  operations  of  man,  the  works 
of  Grace  and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost! 

Upon  this  day  of  Pentecost,  then,  came  down  the  Holy 
Ghost  upon  the  Apostles.  And  as,  upon  the  delivery  of 
the  Law  at  Mount  Sinai,  the  Israelites  saw  the  majesty  of 
Jehovah  in  the  Mount  that  burned  with  fire,  and  the  light- 
nings and  tempest  that  burst  over  its  awful  summit,  and 
heard  the  voice  of  winds,  and  the  sound  of  a  trumpet :  so, 
upon  this  day,  was  the  new  Law  ushered  in  with  a  sound 
from  Heaven  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Godhead  made  visible  to  them  in  tongues  of 
fire  resting  upon  their  heads.  They  both  were  ushered  in 
with  fire :  but  one  was  the  fire  of  wrath,  the  other  the  fire 
of  mercy ;  the  one  indicated  the  consuming  fire  which  God 
is,  out  of  Christ,  the  other  the  purifying  fire  which  God  is, 
in  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  both  were  accompanied  by  a 
sound.  The  sound  of  a  trumpet  —  sad  foreboding  of  the 
Archangel's  trump,  that  shall  summon  the  wicked  to  the 
mount  of  judgment  —  preceded  the  delivery  of  the  Law : 
the  sound  of  a  mighty  rushing  Wind  —  that  Wind  which 


The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  331 

the  prophet  summoned  to  blow  upon  the  dry  hones  in  the 
Valley  of  Vision,  which  the  Church  prayed  might  breathe 
upon  her  to  fit  her  for  the  presence  of  her  Lord  —  an- 
nounced the  incoming  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  May  that  gra- 
cious Wind  blow  upon  us  this  day,  filling  us  with  the  full- 
ness of  its  grace !  May  the  baptism  of  fire  purge  away 
our  dross,  that  so  the  fires  of  hell  may  have  nothing 
whereon  to  banquet ! 

How  careful  is  the  sacred  writer  to  note  that  this  sound 
as  of  a  rushing  mighty  Wind  came  from  Heaven !  Ah,  my 
hearers,  there  is  many  a  wind  which  rushes  by  and  through 
the  Church,  that  is  not  from  Heaven  !  Be  not  "  carried 
about,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  with  every  wind  of  doctrine."  1 
"  Try  the  spirits,"  says  another  Apostle,  "  whether  they  are 
of  God."2  And  nothing  is  there  more  important  for  us, 
than  to  determine  this  matter,  —  than  to  be  skillful  to  dis- 
cern whether  the  sounds  and  spirits  that  are  about  us  and 
within  us  come  from  Heaven  !  Satan  is  skillful  in  deception, 
and  will  put  on  the  garb  of  spiritual  beauty  to  deceive. 
But  there  is  one  dress  which  he  cannot  assume,  —  one  test 
which  he  cannot  bear.  He  cannot  put  on  holiness.  Ho 
cannot  abide  the  test  of  Scripture.  He  can  be,  by  turns, 
every  spirit  save  the  spirit  of  holiness.  He  can  withstand 
every  formula  of  abjuration,  but  that  which  Christ  em- 
ployed against  him :  "  It  is  written." 3  Let  us  measure 
every  sound  that  comes  into  the  Church  by  its  results. 
Does  it  lead  to  holiness  ?  Does  it  render  Christians  more 
humble,  more  meek,  more  like  Jesus  ?  Does  it  put  them 
upon  the  searching  of  motives,  upon  the  correcting  of 
habit,  upon  the  subjugation  of  passions  ?  Does  it  fill  them 
with  good  works?  Then  is  it  a  sound  from  Heaven.  Try 
every  spirit  by  the  Scriptures,  whether  it  be  a  spirit  in  our- 
selves or  in  others,  whether  it  be  in  our  teachers  or  in  those 
1  Eph.  iv.  14.  2  1  S.  John  iv.  1.  3  S  Matt  iv.  4. 


332  The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

we  teach.  Can  it  bear  the  scrutiny  of  the  Bible  ?  Can  it 
harmonize  with  that  Spirit  which  inspired  the  prophets 
and  the  Apostles  P  All  that  is  written  in  the  Scriptures  is 
by  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  has  He  impressed 
Himself ;  there  is  His  image.  Place  every  spirit  opposite 
that  mirror,  and  it  will  certify  you  whether  it  be  a  spirit 
of  purity  or  one  of  pollution.  And  let  me  pray  you,  my 
Christian  friends,  not  only  to  know  but  to  use  these  instru- 
ments for  the  detection  of  Satan.  He  is  busy,  awfully 
busy,  within  the  Church  and  without  the  Church.  Exam- 
ine yourselves,  whether  ye  be  in  the  faith.  Try  every  spirit, 
whether  it  come  from  Heaven. 

When  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  our  Lord,  He  took 
the  shape  of  a  Dove,  —  the  emblem  of  gentleness,  of  purity, 
of  peace.  Upon  the  Apostles  He  comes  with  the  appear- 
ance of  cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire.  And  there  was  fit- 
ness in  both  these  shapes.  It  was  not  meet  that  He  should 
come  upon  Christ  as  fire ;  for  He  it  was  that  the  Baptist 
foretold  as  coming  to  baptize  with  fire  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
not  to  be  baptized  therewith.  Nor  yet  was  it  needful  that 
He,  who  could  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 
should  have  His  lips  touched  with  a  live  coal  from  off  the 
Altar.  Upon  Him  must  the  Holy  Ghost  descend  in  that 
form  which  most  expressed  His  distinctive  Nature,  his 
Spirit  of  Holiness  :  and  what  so  fit  as  a  dove,  the  only  fowl 
that  under  the  Law  was  clean,  and  allowed  for  sacrifice. 
But  the  Apostles  required  to  be  baptized,  and  upon  them 
was  poured  out  the  Spirit  foretold  of  Joel,  in  the  manner 
prophesied  of  John  :  it  was  the  baptism  of  fire  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  —  of  fire  in  the  shape  of  tongues,  that  it 
might  be  diffused  on  every  hand  to  enlighten  and  warm  the 
nations  into  spiritual  life.  For  the  blessing  of  the  nations, 
for  the  indication  to  the  world  that  the  sound  of  the  Gos- 
pel was  to  go  out  into  all  lands,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  to 


The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  333 

be  given  to  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  to  the  Jews,  was  the 
curse  of  Babel  turned  into  a  blessing.  There,  God  made 
every  man  to  speak  in  a  different  tongue,  so  that  each  was 
severed  from  the  rest :  here,  were  "  devout  men,  out  of 
every  nation  under  heaven,''  "  Parthian s,  and  Medes,  and 
Elamites,  and  the  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  and  in  Judea, 
and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus,  and  Asia,  Phrygia,  and  Pam- 
phylia,  in  Egypt,  and  in  the  parts  of  Libya  about  Cyrene, 
and  strangers  of  Eome,  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretes  and 
Arabians,"  1  hearing  the  Gospel  preached  every  man  in  his 
own  tongue  wherein  he  was  born.  There,  were  the  coun- 
sels of  men  discomfited,  that  they  might  not  waste  their 
pains  in  striving  to  escape  God's  wrath  :  here  were  they 
furthered,  by  rich  powers  from  on  high,  that  they  might 
teach  their  fellow-men  how  to  find  God's  mercy. 

"  God  can  send,"  says  one  of  our  old  English  writers, 
"  from  heaven  no  better  thing,  nor  the  devil  from  hell  no 
worse  thing,  than  the  Tongue  :  '  the  best  member  we  have ' 
saith  the  Psalmist ;  6  the  worst  member  we  have  '  saith  the 
Apostle :  both,  as  it  is  employed. 

"  The  best,  if  it  be  of  God's  cleaving;  if  it  be  of  His 
lightening  with  the  fire  of  heaven ;  if  it  be  one  that  will  sit 
still,  if  cause  be.  The  worst,  if  it  come  from  the  devil's 
hands.  For  he,  as  in  many  other,  so  in  the  sending  of 
tongues,  striveth  to  be  like  God ;  as  knowing  well  they  are 
every  way  as  fit  instruments  to  work  mischief  by,  as  to  do 
good  with.  There  be  tongues  of  angels,  mentioned  in  1 
Cor.  xiii.  1 :  and  if  of  good  angels,  I  make  no  doubt  but  of 
evil;  and  so  the  devil  hath  his  tongues. 

"  And  he  hath  the  art  of  cleaving.  He  showed  it  in  the 
beginning,  when  he  made  the  serpent  '  a  forked  tongue,' 
to  speak  that  which  was  contrary  to  his  knowledge  and 
meaning,  6  they  should  not  die ; '  and  as  he  did  the  ser- 
pent's, so  he  can  do  others'." 

1  Acts  ii.  5,  9-11. 


334  The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 

All  this,  while  quaint,  is  deeply  true ;  so  true,  as  to  make 
us  pray  fervently  to  God  that  our  tongues  may  not  be  set 
on  fire  of  hell,  but  may  be  cloven  of  the  Lord  for  the  more 
apt  and  fervent  speaking  of  His  praise.  Truly,  says  the 
Apostle,  the  tongue  is  a  little  member,  but  oh  !  how  great 
a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth.  Oh,  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
would  this  day  sanctify  our  tongues!  For  "if  any  man 
offend  not  in  word,  the  same  is  a  perfect  man," 1  says 
S.  James. 

And  lo  !  another  mark  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  "  It  sat  upon 
each  of  them."  Its  permanence  was  to  be  a  sure  token  of 
its  presence.  "I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give 
you  another  Comforter,"  says  Christ,  "  that  he  may  abide 
with  you  forever." 2  Upon  whomsoever  the  Spirit  truly 
lights,  there  He  abides.  He  enters  into  the  heart,  and 
makes  it  His  temple,  and  fills  it  with  peace  and  the  graces 
of  Christ,  and  becomes  its  indwelling  Deity.  Nothing  more 
surely  marks  the  absence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  any  seeming 
work  of  grace  or  revival,  than  evanescence.  It  is  not  the 
Nature  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  here  to-day,  and  there  to- 
morrow. Where  He  visits,  there  He  makes  His  rest.  "  He 
which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you  will  perform  it  until 
the  day  of  Jesus  Christ,"  3  saith  the  Apostle  Paul  to  the 
Philippians.  Eloquence  may  die  away,  and,  with  its  tones 
of  power  or  of  sweetness,  may  vanish  its  impressions.  Sym- 
pathy may  wear  itself  away,  and,  with  its  decay  of  feelings, 
the  chords  which  it  has  touched  may  lose  their  Christian 
harmony.  Truth  may  again  be  overlaid  with  error,  and, 
with  the  rising  of  the  cloud,  the  knowledge  which  for  a 
moment  beamed  in  upon  the  soul  may  be  obscured.  But 
when  the  Holy  Ghost  enters,  He  abides  forever.  His  touch 
scatters  darkness,  makes  sin  odious,  manifests  Christ  Jesus, 
plants  a  love  for  holiness  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
1  S.  James  iii.  2.  2  S.  John  xiv.  16.  3  Philip,  i.  6. 


The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  335 

efface.  The  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  individual  is  ordina- 
rily a  quiet,  deep,  abiding  work.  Jesus  breathes  upon  the 
soul,  and  says,  "  Receive  thou  the  Holy  Ghost :  "  while  this 
which  we  commemorate  to-day  was  an  extraordinary  blast, 
sudden,  public,  overwhelming,  accompanied  with  miracles, 
suitable  to  the  first  giving  of  the  new  Law  needful  to  the 
interests  of  the  rising  Church. 

The  result  of  this  heavenly  visitation  was  twofold.  The 
Apostles  were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  they  spake 
with  tongues.  The  fullness  of  the  Holy  Ghost  may  be  par- 
ticipated in  by  all,  and  the  utterance  with  tongues  was 
peculiar  to  the  few.  But,  like  every  thing'  in  Xature,  the 
most  common  of  these  gifts  ranks,  with  the  Apostle,  as  by 
far  the  most  valuable  :  "  Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues 
of  men  and  of  angels,  and  have  not  Charity,  I  am  become  as 
sounding  brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal."1  "Yet  show  I  unto 
you  a  more  excellent  way  " 2  he  said,  when  he  had  been 
discoursing  of  miracles,  and  gifts  of  healing,  and  tongues ; 
and  that  "  more  excellent  way,"  is  the  way  we  are  led  by 
the  ordinary  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  is  no 
bosom,  however  humble,  —  and  the  more  humble  the  better, 
—  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  will  not  implant  His  fullness. 
Tongues  have  been  vouchsafed  but  to  a  few.  and  we  see  how 
fatally  some  even  of  those  few  abused  them  ;  but  the  fullness 
of  the  Spirit  hath  been  enjoyed  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, by  the  faithful  of  every  age,  each,  in  turn,  witnessing 
to  its  power  and  its  preciousness.  Let  us  aim  to  be  filled 
with  this  Spirit  •  not  that  we  may  speak  with  tongues,  not 
that  we  may  win  men  to  admiration  by  our  gifts  and  spir- 
itual powers,  but  that  we  may  imitate  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus,  and  walk  humbly  with  our  God.  The  fullness  of  the 
Spirit  hath  always  the  impress  of  graces  which  the  world 
can  scarcely  understand,  —  graces  which  show  themselves 

1  1  Cor.  xiii.  1.  2  Ibid.  xii.  31. 


336  The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 

in  an  ever  increasing  holiness.  That  is  the  will  of  God, 
even  our  sanctification ;  and  for  that  result  will  He  fill  us 
with  His  Spirit  according  to  our  desires. 

It  was  when  the  Apostles  were  engaged  in  prayer  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  them  :  "  And  when  they 
had  prayed,  the  place  was  shaken  where  they  were  assem- 
bled together ;  and  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  they  spake  the  word  of  God  with  boldness." 1  It  was 
while  Peter  preached  that  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  the 
Gentiles :  "  while  Peter  yet  spake  these  words,  the  Holy 
Ghost  fell  on  all  them  which  heard  the  word."  2  It  was 
when  Christ  ascended  from  the  Waters  of  Baptism,  that 
"  the  Heavens  were  opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit 
of  God  descending  like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  him."  3 
It  was  in  Confirmation  that  the  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  the 
disciples  :  "  And  when  Paul  had  laid  his  hands  upon  them, 
the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them."  4  See  then,  brethren,  the 
means  which  God  has  instituted  in  His  Church  for  the 
procurance  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  Prayer,  Preaching,  and  the 
Sacraments.  May  we  not  with  confidence  look  for  His 
presence,  if  we  use  them  faithfully  and  diligently  ?  Nay, 
must  we  not  be  condemned,  condemned  in  our  own  con- 
sciences, condemned  in  the  eyes  of  each  other,  condemned 
in  the  view  of  spiritual  men,  and  angels,  if  the  Holy  Ghost 
does  not  come  upon  us  ?  What  shall  hinder  it  ?  Our 
Saviour  Christ  has  led  captivity  captive,  and  offers  gifts  to 
men,  and  this  His  chiefest  Gift.  He  has  established  His 
Church  upon  earth;  and  we  worship  in  that  Church,  ac- 
cording to  His  own  arrangements,  —  those  arrangements 
which  He  has  sanctified  everlastingly  by  the  Descent  upon 
them  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  What  shall  hinder  His  presence 
among  us  ?  Faithlessness,  indevotion,  uncharitableness,  im- 
purity.   These  shall  deter  Him  from  mingling  His  holiness 

1  Acts  iv.  31.         2  Ibid.  x.  44.         8  S.  Matt.  iii.  16.         4  Acts  xix.  6. 


The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  337 

with  our  assembly ;  and  shall  we  prefer  these  guests  to  the 
Holy  Dove  ?  Oh  no  !  Let  us  watch  for  His  presence  :  and 
when  He  comes,  let  Him  find  the  window  of  our  Ark  open 
to  receive  Him,  our  hands  stretched  out  to  take  Him  in. 

1843. 


22 


C^trt^firjst  Sermon. 


Quench  not  the  Spirit.  —  i  Thessalonians  v.  19. 

"YTTE  do  not  enough  realize  that  we  are  living,  in  these 
*  *  latter  days,  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit ;  — 
that  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Third  Person  of  the  adorable  Trin- 
ity, is  the  active,  life-giving  Being,  by  whom  and  through 
whom  all  the  operations  of  God  upon  the  heart  of  man  are 
carried  on,  whether  those  operations  be  individual  and  pri- 
vate, or  stand  connected  with  the  visible  Church  and  its 
public  ordinances.  We  talk  vaguely,  and  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  vague  preaching  about  the  Spirit,  —  the  Spirit  of 
God,  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  —  not  considering,  or  at  least  not 
keeping  the  consideration  very  clearly  before  the  mind,  that 
He  is  a  Person  of  the  Godhead,  as  real  a  Person  as  the 
Father  or  the  Son ;  and  that  to  Him  is  committed  the 
work  of  operating  upon  the  heart  of  man  in  such  wise  as 
to  lead  him  to  lay  hold  of  the  Salvation  which  is  in  and 
through  Christ  Jesus  ;  or  else  put  him  to  the  terrible  alter- 
native of  quenching  the  influences  which  are  brought  to 
bear  upon  his  understanding,  his  affections,  and  his  con- 
science. 

We  find  in  the  Old  Testament  strong  indications  of  a 
very  material  difference  between  the  covenant  under  which 
the  people  of  Israel  were  placed  by  Jehovah,  and  that  which 
was  to  be  manifested  at  some  future  time,  to  which  the 
Jews  were  made  to  look  forward  as  the  period  of  promise 
and  of  hope :  "  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lokd, 


Quench  not  the  Spirit. 


339 


that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel, 
and  with  the  house  of  Judah  :  not  according"  to  the  cove- 
nant that  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  took 
them  hy  the  hand  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ; 

 but  this  shall  be  the  covenant  that  I  will  make 

with  the  house  of  Israel ;  After  those  days,  saith  the  Lord, 
I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in 
their  hearts ;  and  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my 
people." 1  And  again,  in  Ezekiel,  speaking  of  the  same 
future  :  "  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  clean :  from  all  your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your 
idols  will  I  cleanse  you.  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you, 
and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you  :  and  I  will  take  away 
the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an 
heart  of  flesh.  And  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and 
cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my 
judgments,  and  do  them."  2  And  in  Joel  more  distinctly 
still :  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will  pour 
out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daugh- 
ters shall  prophesy,  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams,  your 
young  men  shall  see  visions  :  and  also  upon  the  servants  and 
upon  the  handmaids  in  those  days  will  I  pour  out  my 
Spirit." 3  And  these  prophetic  promises  plainly  marked  out 
a  new  dispensation,  which  was  to  be  distinguished  by  two 
features :  the  first,  a  much  more  decided  and  universal  op- 
eration of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  world  ;  the  second,  an 
influence  of  that  Spirit,  which  besides  its  extraordinary 
manifestations,  was  to  be  silent,  inward,  converting,  so  that 
the  creature  who  received  it  might  be  said  to  have  a  new 
heart,  —  a  heart  changed  from  stone  to  flesh.  During  the 
earth-life  of  our  Saviour  we  begin  to  see  the  development  of 
this  new  covenant,  —  to  see  it  however  only  in  the  reitera- 
tion of  the  promises  which  had  been  made  in  the  Old  Testa- 

1  Jer.  xxxi.  31-33.  2  Ezek.  xxxvi.  25-27.  3  Joel  ii.  28,  29. 


34-0  Quench  not  the  Spirit. 

ment.  Until  His  work  was  accomplished,  the  Holy  Ghost 
could  not  be  poured  out ;  because  it  was  the  especial  Gift 
which  He  was  to  obtain  from  His  Father  for  the  children 
of  men.  "  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,"  was  His 
expression  while  fulfilling  His  work  upon  earth ;  "  and  how 
am  I  straitened  until  it  be  accomplished  !  " 1  His  own  part 
of  the  plan  of  redemption  He  could  carry  out  triumphantly 
to  its  consummation.  Every  step  in  His  onward  progress 
was  a  victory  over  some  one  of  the  enemies  of  man  :  but 
until  His  final  cry  of  triumph  was  heard  from  the  Cross  — • 
that  cry  which  rent  in  twain  the  vail  of  the  Temple,  which 
made  the  earth  to  quake,  which  opened  the  graves,  which 
roused  the  dead  from  their  corruption  —  the  promise  of  the 
Father  could  not  be  fulfilled.  His  command,  therefore, 
was  laid  upon  His  Apostles,  "  that  they  should  not  depart 
from  Jerusalem,  but  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father, 
which,  saith  he,  ye  have  heard  of  me.  For  John  truly  bap- 
tized with  water;  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  not  many  days  hence." 2  This  promise  of  the 
Father  was  fulfilled  upon  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  the 
Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  the  assembled  Apostles,  appear- 
ing in  the  form  of  cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire,  and  filling 
them  not  only  with  the  ordinary,  but  with  the  extraordinary 
gifts  of  the  Spirit.  This  was  the  manifestation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  prophesied  of  in  Joel ;  and  was  the  indication  to  the 
world,  that,  the  testator  being  dead,  the  New  Covenant  or 
Testament  became  of  force,  —  that  New  Covenant  which 
was  sprinkled  with  the  Blood  that  speaketh  better  things 
than  that  of  Abel.  But  besides  the  miraculous  exhibition 
of  the  giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  was  the  manifesta- 
tion to  the  Apostles  of  their  having  come  into  the  full  frui- 
tion of  the  New  Covenant,  there  was  very  soon  after  a 
marked  indication  that  some  new  and  divine  influence  was 

i  S.  Luke  xii.  50.  2  Acts  i.  4,  5. 


Quench  not  the  Spirit. 


34i 


working  extraordinary  changes  in  the  hearts  of  those,  who, 
until  now,  had  exhibited  an  entire  callousness  to  the  divine 
words  and  miraculous  works  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  In  the 
midst  of  Jerusalem,  within  view  of  the  very  spots  where  the 
infuriated  multitudes  had  forced  him  through  all  the  forms 
of  suffering  to  which  a  mortal  man  could  be  subjected,  the 
very  people  who  had  cried  out  "  Crucify  him,  crucify  him," 
were  now  pricked  to  the  heart  under  the  plain  and  pungent 
preaching  of  the  Apostles,  and  were  asking,  "  What  shall 
we  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  were  receiving  baptism,  and  rejoicing 
in  the  Name  of  Jesus ;  were  confessing  His  Cross,  even 
unto  martyrdom.  Truly  had  the  Saviour  said,  "  I  will  not 
leave  you  comfortless  :  I  will  come  to  you." 1  And  again  : 
"  Nevertheless  I  tell  you  the  truth  ;  It  is  expedient  for 
you  that  I  go  away :  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter 
will  not  come  unto  you ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him 
unto  you.    And  when  he  is  come,  he  will  reprove  the  world 

of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment  He 

shall  glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall 
show  it  unto  you."  2 

As  we  proceed  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  reach 
the  time  when  S.  Paul  began  to  write  his  Epistles  to  the 
Churches,  we  find  a  yet  more  distinct  declaration  of  this 
peculiarity  of  the  New  Testament,  —  the  peculiarity  of  its 
being  distinctively  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit.  In  writ- 
ing to  the  Corinthians,  lest  their  false  teachers  should 
charge  him  with  vain-glory,  he  runs  a  comparison  be- 
tween the  ministers  of  the  Law  and  of  the  Gospel :  "  Our 
sufficiency,"  writes  he,  "  is  of  God  ;  who  also  hath  made  us 
able  ministers  of  the  new  testament;  not  of  the  letter, 
but  of  the  spirit :  for  the  letter  killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth 
life.  But  if  the  ministration  of  death,  written  and  en- 
graven in  stones,  was  glorious,  ....  how  shall  not  the 
1  S.  John  xiv.  18,  2  7^  xvi>  7>  8>  14< 


342  Quench  not  the  Spirit. 

ministration  of  the  spirit  be  rather  glorious  ? " 1  And 
again  :  "  Wherefore  I  give  yon  to  understand,  that  no  man 
speaking  by  the  Spirit  of  God  calleth  Jesus  accursed :  and 
that  no  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.    Now  there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the 

same  Spirit  And  there  are  diversities  of  operations, 

but  it  is  the  same  God  which  worketh  all  in  all.  But  the 
manifestation  of  the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit 
withal.  For  to  one  is  given  by  the  Spirit  the  word  of  wis- 
dom ;  to  another  the  word  of  knowledge  by  the  same  Spirit; 
to  another  faith  by  the  same  Spirit ;  "  and  thus  he  runs 
through  the  various  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  ordinary  and  extra- 
ordinary, concluding  with  the  words :  "  But  all  these  work- 
eth that  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man 
severally  as  he  will."  3  And  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians 
he  runs  through  the  catalogue  of  the  officers  and  teachers 
in  the  Church,  commencing  with  Apostles,  and  ending  with 
Pastors,  tracing  them  all  up  to  the  Ascension  of  Christ, 
and  His  giving  unto  men  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  which  He 
had  purchased  with  His  Blood :  thus  wrapping  up  every 
thing,  both  private  and  public,  both  in  the  individual  and 
in  the  Church,  in  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  Spirit  which,  in  our 
text,  the  Thessalonians  are  exhorted  not  to  quench.  We 
are  living  then,  as  I  stated  in  the  beginning  of  my  sermon, 
under  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  —  under  that  New 
Testament  in  which  the  Law  was  to  be  put  in  our  inward 
parts,  was  to  be  written  in  our  hearts ;  under  which  changes 
of  the  most  thorough  description  were  to  be  made  in  the 
inner  man,  so  that  what  deserved  to-day  the  appellation  of 
stone,  might  to-morrow  be  called  flesh.  And  this  is  the 
point  I  desire  to  impress  upon  you  to-day ;  and  which  I 
further  desire  that  you  should  keep  distinctly  in  view 
through  all  your  Christian  experience  :  for  upon  it  will 
1  2  Cor.  iii.  5-8.  2  1  Cor.  xii.  3,  4,  6-9,  11. 


Quench  not  the  Spirit,  343 

depend  your  growth  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord ;  your  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding,  your  com- 
fort, and  joy,  and  peace  in  believing.  Just  as  no  man  can 
call  Jesus  Lord  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  can  no  man 
move  forward  in  the  Christian  life  but  through  the  divine 
influences  which  are  appointed  to  flow  down  upon  him 
through  the  Spirit :  and  therefore  is  it  that,  in  the  laying 
on  of  hands,  the  prayer  is  offered  that  the  candidates  may 
be  "  strengthened  "  with  "  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comfort- 
er ;  "  that  "  the  manifold  gifts  "  of  God's  "  grace  "  may  be 
"  daily  increased  "  in  them  ;  —  "  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
understanding,  the  spirit  of  counsel  and  ghostly  strength, 
the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  true  godliness,"  and  lastly 
"  the  spirit  of  the  Holy  fear  99  of  the  Lord.  How  very  in- 
teresting and  important,  then,  does  the  rite  of  Confirma- 
tion become,  when  we  consider  that  it  distinctly  and  espec- 
ially invokes  upon  the  head  of  the  candidate  the  very  Spirit 
under  whose  dispensation  we  are  living,  and  by  whose  gifts 
we  are  made  more  and  more  like  Him  who  is  first  our  Sav- 
iour, aud  then  our  Example  ! 

Every  step  in  the  Christian  life,  moreover,  is  made  to  de- 
pend upon  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  very  first  sense  of  sinful- 
ness comes  from  Him  :  for  "  when  he  is  come,"  says  our 
Saviour,  "  he  will  reprove  the  world  of  sin."  1  The  very 
faintest,  as  well  as  the  most  exalted,  views  of  Christ  come 
from  Him  :  for,  says  our  Saviour,  "  He  shall  glorify  me ; 
for  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you."  2 
The  growth  in  knowledge,  in  wisdom,  in  faith,  all  come 
from  Him  :  "  for  to  one  is  given,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  by 
the  Spirit,  the  word  of  wisdom  ;  to  another,  the  word  of 
knowledge  by  the  same  Spirit ;  to  another,  faith  by  the 
same  Spirit." 3  The  sense  of  adoption  comes  from  Him  : 
for  "  the  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that 

1  S.  John  xvi.  8.  2  1Ud^  14_  3  1  Cor,  xiL  8j  9t 


344 


Quench  not  the  Spirit. 


we  are  the  children  of  God." 1  The  security  of  our  inherit- 
ance conies  from  Him:  for  "ye  were  sealed/'  says  the 
Apostle  to  the  Ephesians,  with  that  Holy  Spirit  of  prom- 
ise, which  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance  until  the  re- 
demption of  the  purchased  possession,  unto  the  praise  of 
his  glory."  2  From  the  beginning  to  the  ending,  from  the 
first  faint  sense  of  sin  up  to  the  full  assurance  of  faith  and 
hope,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  giver  of  all  those  graces  which 
Christ  has  obtained  for  His  people,  —  the  dispenser  of  those 
unsearchable  riches,  which  are  laid  up  with  God  for  the 
strength,  the  comfort,  and  the  joy  of  all  Christian  hearts. 
How  deeply  important  then,  and  how  universally  important, 
the  exhortation  of  our  text :  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit :  "  — 
deeply  important,  because  upon  the  life  of  that  Spirit  within 
the  heart  depends  all  personal  religion  ;  universally  impor- 
tant, because  the  work  of  the  Spirit  extends  over  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  and  height  and  depth  of  the  Christian 
life.  Nothing  can  be  done  at  any  point  of  the  soul's  his- 
tory without  the  Spirit ;  and  there  is  no  point  at  which  He 
may  not  be  grieved  and  quenched  if  God's  grace  desert  us. 
And  it  becomes  still  more  a  matter  of  awe,  when  we  remem- 
ber that  terrible  things  are  spoken  in  the  Scripture  respect- 
ing the  Spirit,  such  as  these :  that  "  My  Spirit  shall  not 
always  strive  with  man  ;  "  3  that  "  it  is  impossible  for  those 
who  were  once  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  of  the  heavenly 
gift,  and  were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ...  if 
they  shall  fall  away,  to  renew  them  again  unto  repentance ; 
seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh, 
and  put  him  to  an  open  shame ; " 4  that  there  is  a  sin 
a.gainst  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  "  shall  not  be  forgiven, 
neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come."  5  How 
any  one,  —  with  the  knowledge  of  our  entire  dependence 

i  Rom.  viii.  16.  2  Eph.  i.  13,  14.  3  Gen.  vi.  3. 

4  Heb.  vi.  4,  6.  6  S.  Matt.  xii.  32. 


Quench  not  the  Spirit  345 

upon  this  Spirit,  with  a  proper  sense  of  the  exclusive  au- 
thority with  which  every  thing  is  committed  to  Him  in  the 
Church  upon  earth,  with  a  remembrance  of  these  solemn 
warnings  resting  upon  his  heart,  —  can  venture  to  quench 
the  Spirit,  to  trifle  with  such  a  Being,  to  vex  Him,  to  grieve 
Him,  to  drive  Him  from  His  work  in  the  soul ;  is  past  all 
comprehension  :  and  yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  aw- 
ful work  is  going  on  busily  in  the  world,  and  in  the  Church  ; 
sometimes  visibly,  so  that  man  can  see  and  trace  the  prog- 
ress 5  sometimes  secretly,  so  that  it  shall  never  be  sus- 
pected until  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  disclosed. 

One  would  suppose  that  the  last  person  in  the  world  to 
quench  the  Spirit  in  a  child  would  be  a  Christian  parent,  — 
one  who  had  tasted  the  preciousness  of  Christ,  the  joy  and 
peace  in  believing.  And  yet,  unnatural  and  monstrous  as 
it  may  seem,  parents  are  often  the  very  first ;  because  to 
them  is  committed  the  spirit  of  the  child,  during'  its  ear- 
liest years.  They  bring  it  to  the  baptismal  font ;  they  pray 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be  poured  out  upon  it,  that  it  may 
be  regenerate  and  born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
that  it  may  be  made  an  heir  of  everlasting  salvation  •  they 
hear  the  Minister  declare  that  the  "  child  is  regenerate,  and 
grafted  into  the  body  of  Christ's  Church : "  and  they  go 
away,  proving  by  their  conduct  that  they  have  no  faith  in 
the  ordinance  or  in  the  promises  of  God,  because  they 
forthwith  conclude  that  the  child  cannot  be  and  must  not 
be  religious  until  it  shall  have  reached  a  certain  undefined 
period  of  life,  and  has  passed  through  a  certain  routine  of 
worldly  experience.  How  much  early  piety  is  thus  extin- 
guished !  How  many  young  spirits,  yearning  for  a  higher 
life,  are  bound  down  by  low  views  like  these  to  the  earth 
and  earthly  things,  when  they  should  be  soaring  on  the 
wings  of  faith  and  love  into  the  presence  of  their  God  ! 
How  many  heavenward  aspirations  are  quenched  in  those 


346  Quench  not  the  Spirit. 

of  whom  Christ  said :  "  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God." 1 
Why,  Christian  parents,  are  ye  so  doubtful  and  so  afraid  of 
early  piety  ?  Why  cry  out  against  such  manifestations  as 
indications  of  undue  excitement,  of  artificial  feeling,  of  af- 
fections that  must  die  out  ?  Is  it  so  unnatural  that  a  young 
soul  should  love  its  God?  Is  it  so  unaccountable  that  a 
warm-hearted  child  should  feel  its  affections  kindling  at 
the  tale  of  Christ's  love  and  sacrifice  for  it  ?  Are  the  prom- 
ises of  God  to  go  for  nothing,  which  command  the  young 
to  remember  their  Creator  in  the  days  of  their  youth? 
which  declare  that  those  who  seek  Him  early  shall  find 
Him  ?  which  ensure  parents  a  reward  for  the  training  of 
their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord  ? 
The  Spirit  of  God  deals  with  our  children,  my  beloved  peo- 
ple, at  a  very  early  age ;  nay,  we  have  reason  to  hope,  from 
the  very  moment  when  we  dedicate  them  to  God  in  baptism. 
Let  it  be  our  duty  to  guard  and  direct  that  influence,  treat- 
ing it  as  we  should  a  tender  and  delicate  plant,  which 
is  just  pushing  its  feeble  blade  through  the  earth  which 
nourishes  and  yet  buries  it. 

Religion  will  not  be  in  a  child  what  it  will  be  in  an 
adult ;  and  we  must  not  expect  it.  It  will  be  the  piety  of 
a  child,  —  simple,  trustful,  guileless,  mixed  up-with  the  fri- 
volities of  childhood  :  but  still,  piety  with  all  the  elements 
of  genuine  Christianity,  —  sorrow  for  sin,  confession  of  sin, 
a  looking  to  God  for  forgiveness  through  Christ,  a  deter- 
mination to  amend  and  do  better  for  the  future.  Quench 
all  this,  either  through  indifference,  or  inadvertence,  or 
harshness,  and  you  are  quenching  a  Spirit  which  may  not 
work  again  within  that  heart  for  many  a  long  and  weary 
year  which  you  may  have  spent  in  tears  and  sorrow  over 
an  impenitent  and  ungodly  child.  Cherish  it,  and  it  may 
grow  up  into  a  Christian  character  that  shall  give  you 
i  S.  Mark  x.  14. 


Quench  not  the  Spirit. 


347 


infinite  comfort  in  this  world ;  —  that  may  illustrate  the 
Church  of  Christ  upon  earth  ! 

As  the  children  of  the  Church  advance  in  age,  they  pass 
from  the  parent's  teaching  under  that  of  the  ministering 
servants  of  the  Lord ;  and  they,  too,  must  be  very  careful 
not  to  quench  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  young.  They,  too, 
may  fall  into  a  like  error  with  that  noticed  in  parents,  — 
of  not  expecting  the  young  to  devote  themselves  to  Christ, 
of  fearing  to  encourage  their  profession,  lest  they  may 
prove  unsteady,  inconsistent,  or  may  fall  away  from  their 
profession.  My  own  experience  has  rid  me  very  much  of 
this  fear.  It  has  been  my  lot  as  a  minister  to  have  been 
thrown  very  much  with  the  young,  and  over  the  young ; 
and  in  almost  every  instance  of  early  profession,  I  have 
found  a  very  great  consistency  of  Christian  character,  a 
very  great  steadfastness  in  the  love  of  the  Church.  And  I 
say  this  for  the  encouragement  of  any  young  persons  who 
may  now  be  desirous  of  Confirmation  in  the  Church  of 
Christ,  and  may  yet  be  hesitating  and  fearing  to  profess 
Christ  before  the  world.  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit."  He  is 
striving  with  you  now,  —  calling  you  at  a  most  impressive 
period  of  your  life,  when  you  have  virgin  hearts  to  offer  to 
the  Lord.  Listen  to  the  call.  Be  obedient  to  His  voice 
of  Love.  Follow  His  holy  and  divine  guidance.  Meet  Him 
—  where  He  loves  to  dwell  —  in  the  Church,  and  at  the 
Altar ;  and  you  will  lay  up  for  yourselves  a  rich  fountain  of 
happiness  for  your  future  life.  And  life,  my  youthful  hear- 
ers, needs  such  a  fountain.  It  has  its  joys  :  but  they  are 
intermingled  with  many  sorrows.  It  has  its  sunshine,  and 
may  much  of  it  rest  upon  your  heads  :  but  the  days  of 
darkness  must  come.  Its  path  sometimes  leads  through 
green  pastures  and  smiling  landscapes :  but  much  of  it  is  a 
weary  waste,  in  which  the  heart  faints,  and  the  strength 
fails.    Flee  at  once  to  the  dear  secret  fountain  of  joy, 


348  Quench  not  the  Spirit, 

which  Christ  alone  can  plant  within  you ;  and  quench  not, 
for  a  single  moment,  even  of  thoughtless  youth,  the  Spirit 
who  is  guiding  you  to  your  eternal  peace  ! 

It  is  a  sad  mistake  into  which  men  so  often  fall  in  regard 
to  the  Church  of  Christ,  as  if  it  were  a  place  only  for  the 
perfect.  Gracious  Father  of  mercy,  if  this  were  true, 
which  of  us  could  claim  our  places  within  its  sacred  pre- 
cincts ?  Which  of  us,  from  the  highest  in  office  to  the 
humblest  in  feeling,  could  dare  to  kneel  at  its  Altars  ?  Oh, 
no  !  It  is  a  sanctuary  for  all  those  who  are  penitent ;  who 
are  believing,  even  while  they  tremble  ;  who  are  fighting 
the  good  fight  of  faith ;  who  are  resting  upon  Jesus,  in 
humility,  for  strength  and  for  grace.  To  this  sanctuary  is 
the  Spirit  of  God  endeavoring  to  lead  every  one  of  you; 
and  for  this  purpose  is  striving  with  your  hearts  to  con- 
vince you  of  sin,  to  manifest  Christ  unto  you,  to  unite  you 
with  Him  through  a  means  of  grace  which  He  has  insti- 
tuted in  His  Church.  In  whatever  way  the  Spirit  may  be 
dealing  with  you,  quench  Him  not !  It  may  be  that  He  is 
striving  to  lead  you  to  Christ  through  a  thankful  and  grate- 
ful heart,  —  thankful  and  grateful  for  mercies  received. 
Oh !  u  quench  not  the  Spirit,"  lest  He  afterwards  say  to 
you  :  "  I  spake  unto  thee  in  thy  prosperity  ;  but  thou  saidst, 
I  will  not  hear." 1  It  may  be  that  He  is  plunging  you  into  a 
sea  of  troubles,  that  you  may  sigh  for  rest,  and  find  it  upon 
the  bosom  of  Jesus.  Oh !  "  quench  not  the  Spirit,"  lest 
the  waters  overflow  thee,  and  thou  perish  out  of  the  Ark 
of  safety !  It  may  be  that  He  has  snatched  from  you  the 
pride  of  your  heart,  the  delight  of  your  eyes,  and  trans- 
ferred them  to  Heaven,  that  your  affections  may  soar 
thither  and  find  reunion  in  Christ.  Oh  !  "  quench  not  the 
Spirit,"  for  "  0  Lord,  are  not  thine  eyes  upon  the  truth  ? 
thou  hast  stricken  them,  but  they  have  not  grieved ;  thou 

1  Jer.  xxii.  21. 


Quench  not  the  Spirit  349 

hast  consumed  them,  but  they  have  refused  to  receive  cor- 
rection :  they  have  made  their  faces  harder  than  a  rock  ; 
they  have  refused  to  return.  Therefore  I  said,  Surely  these 
are  poor ;  they  are  foolish :  for  they  know  not  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  nor  the  judgment  of  their  God."  1  It  may  he 
that  He  is  guiding  you  calmly  along  the  path  of  life,  open- 
ing gradually  before  you  the  things  of  Christ.  Oh, 
"  Quench  not  the  Spirit ;  "  yield  to  His  gentle  influences ; 
be  guided  by  His  divine  counsel :  and  soon  shall  you  find 
your  peace  as  a  river,  and  your  righteousness  as  the  waves 
of  the  sea.  Whatever  may  be  your  circumstances,  or 
whatever  your  condition,  whatever  your  age,  whatever  the 
influences  under  which  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be  leading 
you  to  Christ,  Oh  !  "  quench  not  the  Spirit : "  for,  once 
quenched,  He  may  never  again  cast  the  bright  beams  of 
His  glory  within  your  heart ! 

1865. 

1  Jer.  v.  3,  4. 


Qtyittpmovfo  Sermon, 


And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness. 
—  Genesis  l  26. 

Compared  with 

A?td  Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up  straightway  out  of  the 
water :  and,  lo,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw  the 
Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  him  :  and 
lo  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Soji,  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased.  —  S.  Matthew  iii.  16,  17. 

[First  Part.] 

TT  is  roundly  asserted  and  generally  believed  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  one  of  late  introduction  into 
the  Christian  system,  and  was  neither  known  nor  exacted 
as  a  matter  of  faith  until  the  second  or  third  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  And  yet,  in  the  very  face  of  this  declara- 
tion, the  Lessons  selected  by  the  Church  for  Trinity  Sunday 
are  chosen,  the  one  from  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  the 
other  from  the  third  chapter  of  S.  Matthew's  Gospel,  as 
exhibiting,  with  peculiar  distinctness,  the  Personality  of  the 
Godhead.  How  can  a  doctrine  be  of  late  introduction, 
which  manifests  itself  thus  distinctly  upon  the  very  opening 
scenes,  the  one  of  the  world's  economy,  the  other  of  the 
Christian  dispensation?  How  can  that  be  new,  which  is 
inscribed  upon  the  very  first  page  of  the  Revelation  that 
God  made  of  Himself  to  His  creatures,  and  which,  after  a 
lapse  of  fourteen  hundred  years,  during  four  hundred  of 
which  there  was  silence  between  Heaven  and  earth,  God 
not  speaking  to  the  world,  reappears  at  the  very  earliest 
moment  of  the  renewal  of  intercourse  ?    So  far  from  its 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  351 

being  a  novel  doctrine,  it  constitutes,  in  my  view,  the  very 
foundation  of  the  whole  Christian  scheme,  and  seems  to 
have  been  arranged  by  God  for  a  peculiar  purpose,  —  so 
arranged,  that  while  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead  should  be 
impressed  upon  the  world,  that  world  should  not  be  per- 
mitted, even  for  a  moment  of  time,  to  conceive  of  that 
Unity,  save  as  embodying  the  divine  mystery  of  Three  Per- 
sons in  that  Unity.  My  reading  of  the  Bible  satisfies  me 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead  was  not 
revealed  an  instant  earlier  than  that  of  the  Trinity;  and 
that  it  was  the  harder  one  to  force  upon  the  world.  When 
the  inspired  writers  of  the  Old  Testament  reiterate  the 
declaration,  "  Hear,  0  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one 
Lord."  1  When  they  press  it  home  upon  the  gainsaying 
Israelites,  and  seem  never  to  tire  of  its  repetition,  it  was 
not  against  the  Trinity  that  they  were  guarding  and 
warning  the  chosen  people  of  God,  but  it  was  against  the 
corrupt  tendency  of  human  nature,  which  had  developed 
itself  all  the  world  over,  and  was  rife  around  them,  to  make 
Gods  many  and  Lords  many,  and  to  people  every  mountain 
and  valley  and  river  and  forest  with  deities.  The  doctrine 
of  the  Three  Persons  in  the  One  Godhead,  had  it  been 
taught  apart  from  its  mystery  of  oneness  and  coequality, 
would  have  been  greedily  caught  at  among  the  Pagans,  for 
it  would  have  fallen  in  with  their  natural  sentiment  of 
polytheism.  It  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  God 
which  was  strange ;  which  was  considered  unnatural ; 
which  had  to  be  forced  upon  the  world,  and  then  kept  in 
it,  by  the  separation  and  perpetual  discipline  of  a  people  set 
apart  for  the  very  purpose  ;  which  was  preserved,  only  by 
means  like  these,  until  such  time  as  Christ  became  incar- 
nate, and  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself  introduced  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  the  world,  through  whose  agency  and  power  over 

1  Deut.  vi.  4. 


352  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

the  heart  it  finds  belief  and  reception.  Men  of  the  present 
generation  can  scarcely  conceive  the  true  state  of  this 
question;  can  scarcely  realize  how  much  more  unnatural 
the  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  God  is  to  man,  than  that  of  a 
plurality  of  Gods ;  how  much  more  difficult  it  is  to  keep 
his  affections  fastened  upon  one  object,  than  upon  many. 
Because,  after  an  education  of  six  thousand  years,  and  after 
the  introduction  into  the  world  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose 
sublime  office  it  is  to  keep  religion  pure  in  the  heart,  Man 
has  learned  at  last  to  receive  and  worship  God  in  His  Unity, 
he  imagines  it  to  be  a  natural  sentiment.  Never  was  he 
more  mistaken.  Never  was  there  a  doctrine  more  distinctly 
a  matter  of  education.  And  even  now,  wherever  man  is 
found  without  that  religious  training,  there  is  found  with 
him  the  belief  and  worship  of  a  plurality  of  Gods  ;  or,  at  the 
least,  of  a  duality,  the  two  antagonistic  principles  of  good 
and  evil,  of  light  and  darkness,  of  benevolence  and  malice. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  word  Trinity  was  not  used  as 
a  distinctly  theological  word  until  after  the  coming  of 
Christ :  but  it  is  not  the  word  that  is  important,  but  the 
thing  5  it  is  not  the  term,  but  the  doctrine.  What  has  been 
revealed  to  us,  upon  this  point,  from  the  beginning? 
What  has  been  the  doctrine  taught  by  the  Scriptures  ? 
What  has  been  the  faith  impressed  upon  the  world  ?  What 
has  been  embodied  in  the  Creeds  of  the  Church  from  the 
time  when  Creeds  became  necessary  ?  These  are  the  points 
to  be  settled,  and  not  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  a 
word  adopted  and  used,  for  convenience  sake,  to  express 
compactly  and  forcibly  a  revealed  and  therefore  existing 
truth.  If  any  man  tells  me  that  he  believes  what  is 
expressed  by  the  word  Trinity,  I  will  not  quarrel  with  him 
about  the  word  Trinity.  If  he  will  say,  in  the  language  of 
our  Article,  —  "  There  is  but  one  living  and  true  God,  ever- 
lasting, without  body,  parts,  or  passions ;  of  infinite  power, 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  353 

wisdom,  and  goodness ;  the  Maker  and  Preserver  of  all 
things  hoth  visible  and  invisible.  And  in  Unity  of  this 
Godhead  there  be  three  Persons,  of  one  substance,  power, 
and  eternity  ;  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost :  " 1 
—  I  shall  not  dispute  with  him  about  the  word.  The  word 
is  not  a  thing  of  Revelation,  and  therefore  is  not  essential : 
the  doctrine  is  a  thing  of  Revelation,  and  therefore  is  essen- 
tial. To  dispute,  consequently,  about  the  mere  word,  is  to 
cavil  against  that  which  is  not  the  material  thing.  Sup- 
posing the  term  cr  Trinity "  to  be  given  up,  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  still  stands,  as  it  is  believed  and  explained  by 
the  Church,  and  will  forever  stand,  until  the  Word  of  God 
shall  be  of  none  effect  among  men.  Nothing  is  gained, 
then,  by  warfare  against  the  term,  more  than  the  getting 
rid  of  a  convenient  word  which  expresses  briefly  what  is 
taught  diffusely  and  at  intervals.  All  this  is  beside  the 
mark,  is  unworthy  of  a  sensible  controversialist,  is  making 
a  point  of  that  which  has  really  nothing  to  do  with  the 
question.  The  true  and  earnest  matter  is  :  "  What  has 
God  declared  from  the  beginning  of  His  Revelation  to  be 
His  mode  of  existence  ?  And  I  answer  emphatically,  and 
without  all  fear  of  contradiction :  "  Three  Persons,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  one  substance, 
power  and  eternity,  subsisting  in  the  Unity  of  the  God- 
head." 2 

We  have  no  right,  in  the  examination  of  any  Christian 
doctrine,  to  separate  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  from 
each  other.  They  together  constitute  one  Revelation  ;  and 
I  am  bold  to  assert  that  if  the  one  is  not  a  Revelation  from 
God,  neither  is  the  other.  They  stand  or  fall  together. 
The  one  is  the  complement  of  the  other :  and  if  it  be  nec- 
essary at  times  to  interpret  the  expressions  of  the  older  dis- 
pensation through  the  disclosures  of  the  new,  it  is  essential 

1  Article  I.  2  Ibid. 

23 


354  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

to  the  newer  dispensation  to  have  the  older  to  rest  upon  for 
its  defence  against  the  assaults  of  infidelity  and  false  philos- 
ophy. Unless  I  had  the  New  Testament  to  explain  the 
Old,  I  might  often  err  in  my  inferences ;  hut  unless  I  had 
the  Old  Testament  to  defend  the  New,  I  should  find  it  very 
hard  to  resist  the  sophistry  of  Mr.  Hume,  or  the  rational- 
ism of  the  Neologists.  It  is  because  I  have  both  that  I 
feel  invincible,  —  that  I  am  sure  I  can  do  every  thing  and 
any  thing  which  the  reason  may  demand,  or  the  intellect 
call  for ;  —  that  I  can  wield  from  the  treasury  of  the  Bible 
an  array  of  argument  that  can  do  every  thing,  except  con- 
vert the  heart  of  the  creature  and  make  it  submissive. 

Let  us  then,  with  this  preliminary  assertion,  with  this 
postulate  (without  which  I  should  think  it  useless  to  argue 
at  all),  examine  this  very  first  chapter  of  Genesis, — this 
very  first  page  in  the  Revelation  of  God,  —  and  see  what  it 
asserts.  Its  very  first  words  are :  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  That  is  the  very  first 
teaching  man  gets,  —  the  first  idea  which  is  given  him  of 
God,  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  Until  this  revela- 
tion, he  knows  nothing.  God !  what  then  is  God  ?  That 
is  the  idea  to  be  developed.  Man  knows  nothing  of  Him 
before  Revelation,  —  knows  not  whether  He  is  one  or 
many ;  knows  not  His  mode  of  existence ;  knows  nothing 
of  His  intentions  or  purposes.  He  is  altogether  at  large. 
His  mind  is  a  blank,  upon  which  is  to  be  written  the  dis- 
closures of  the  Deity.  He  has  no  prejudications  one  way  or 
the  other.  He  confesses,  like  Confucius,  a  profound  igno- 
rance upon  the  subject.  Can  he,  by  searching,  find  out 
God  ?  It  is  high  as  Heaven,  what  can  he  do  ?  deeper  than 
Hell,  what  can  he  know?  He  holds  the  attitude  of  one 
receiving  knowledge,  and  not  disputing  about  it.  God! 
who  and  what  is  He  ?  And  he  is  obliged  to  wait  for  new 
disclosures.    And  the  very  next  verse  helps  him:  "And 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  355 

tlie  earth  was  without  form,  and  void ;  and  darkness  was 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep.  And  the  Spirit  of  God  moved 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  "  The  Spirit  of  God  :  " 
what  is  that '?  Is  it  a  quality  ?  is  it  an  emanation  ?  is  it  a 
something  subsisting  in  God,  or  distinct  from  God?  This 
is  certainly  a  fresh  idea.  Everywhere  else,  except  in  this 
passage,  up  to  the  26th  verse  of  the  chapter,  the  language 
is,  "  God  created,"  "  God  said,"  "  God  called ;  "  here  it  is 
the  "  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters." 
This  fresh  idea  must  therefore  be  reserved  for  considera- 
tion, —  must  be  kept  weighed  in  the  mind  for  further 
development  until  such  time  as  new  revelations  shall  make 
it  more  plain.  Should  it  not  be  rash  in  a  creature,  when 
he  knew  that  he  was  the  recipient  of  a  Revelation  which 
was  to  be  progressive,  to  decide  hastily  upon  any  point 
which  had  not  been  entirely  unfolded,  —  to  say  at  once, 
and  presumptuously,  that  this  Spirit  of  God  was  a  mere 
quality,  emanating  from  God  and  returning  to  God,  having 
no  personality  nor  separate  existence  ?  Certainly  it  should. 
His  only  proper  attitude  is  that  of  cautious  reserve,  until 
he  shall  hear  more  of  this  God ;  until  the  Revelation  shall 
more  clearly  explain  itself.  He  is  a  learner  and  not  a 
guesser ;  an  humble  disciple  to  whom  things  are  unfold- 
ing themselves,  and  not  a  critic.  He  must  wait  upon  the 
will  of  God,  in  patience  and  humility. 

The  25th  verse  of  this  first  chapter  of  Genesis  closes  the 
narrative  of  the  creation  of  all  animal  life  save  the  highest 
earthly  being  —  Man.  The  26th  verse  introduces  that 
most  important  act,  —  introduces  it  with  great  solemnity, 
and  with  an  entire  change  of  phraseology.  In  all  the  pre- 
vious exertions  of  creative  power,  the  language  is,  "  God 
said,  Let  such  and  such  things  be  created."  The  26th 
verse  opens  in  a  very  different  and  much  more  striking 
way.    The  first  indicates  a  mere  exercise  of  will ;  this  indi- 


35 6  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

cates  consultation  among  Persons  not  yet  known  to  us. 
"  And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our 
likeness  :  "  —  a  very  remarkable  change  of  phraseology,  one 
which  may  mean  nothing,  or  which  may  mean  a  great 
deal ;  which  may  he  a  mere  Oriental  and  regal  mode  of 
address,  or  may  embody  a  deep  mysterious  truth.  Now 
I  do  not  ask  you  to  admit  that  this  teaches  the  Trinity ; 
that  will  depend  upon  circumstances  :  but  does  it  not  call 
upon  an  humble  enquirer  into  truth,  upon  one  who  knows 
nothing  (except  what  he  may  be  taught)  about  the  mode  of 
Divine  existence,  to  pause  and  reflect,  before  he  concludes 
any  thing  rashly  ?  —  to  keep  his  mind  in  a  state  of  suspense 
until  further  light  shall  be  cast  upon  it  from  the  Fountain 
of  light  ?  Once  before,  in  the  same  chapter,  has  the  nar- 
rative passed  rapidly  from  God  to  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and 
here  again  it  has  passed,  at  a  most  critical  moment  too, 
just  when  God  is  about  to  perform  His  greatest  act  of  cre- 
ation, from  the  singular  to  the  plural  form  of  expression : 
"  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness."  Who 
are  included  under  this  term  "us"?  To  whom  is  God 
speaking?  With  whom  is  God  consulting?  It  may  be 
nothing,  but  are  you  sure  that  it  is  nothing  ?  Are  you  so 
sure  that  it  is  nothing,  that  you  can  say  that  there  is  no 
evidence  of  Persons  in  the  Godhead  in  the  Old  Testament  ? 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  phraseology  of  this  chapter  leaves 
the  door  open  for  much  expectation ;  that  at  the  close  of 
this  narrative,  while  I  am  well  informed  that  God  is  the 
creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  I  am  not  at  all  sure  what  sort 
of  Being  that  God  is,  what  is  His  mode  of  existence, 
whether  as  an  unit,  or  as  more  than  one,  or  as  several  in 
one.  I  say  that,  from  this  chapter,  the  thing  is  left  quite 
open,  and  beyond  any  man  to  say  how  it  will  be  developed 
as  the  Revelation  unfolds  itself. 

Now  as  we  float  along  with  the  Revelation  as  it  is  devel- 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  357 

oped  from  time  to  time,  we  discover  very  distinctly  that 
there  are  not  more  Gods  than  one.  This  is  very  clear,  for 
the  expressions  are  frequent  and  impressive :  "  There  is  but 
one  God,"  —  "  There  is  no  other  God  hut  me,"  —  "  There 
is  not  any  God  besides  me,"  with  a  thousand  assertions  like 
these,  which  settle  that  question.  But  because  there  is  only 
one  God,  it  decides  nothing  about  the  mode  of  existence  of 
that  one  God.  Tbe  believers  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
do  not  say  that  there  are  more  Gods  than  one ;  nay,  they 
deny  it  most  stoutly,  as  a  misrepresentation  of  their  belief : 
their  position  is  that  there  is  but  one  God,  but  that  in  the 
unity  of  that  Godhead  there  are  three  Persons,  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  a  very  different  position, 
one  which  does  not  in  the  least  meet  its  denial  in  any  of 
the  texts  of  Scripture  which  affirm  God  to  be  one  God,  but 
which  must  look  for  its  fulfillment  in  quite  a  distinct  mode 
of  investigation. 

While  we  find,  then,  in  following  the  stream  of  Revela- 
tion, that  there  is  a  clear  denial  of  more  Gods  than  one, 
there  is,  all  along,  an  intimation  of  Persons  who  are  to 
have  a  most  wonderful  influence  upon  the  history  and 
development  of  religion.  Besides  this  "  Spirit  of  God  " 
who  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters,  we  read  of  "a 
Seed  of  the  Woman  who  is  to  crush  the  serpent's  head  ; " 
of  "  a  King  who  is  to  reign  in  righteousness ;  "  of  "  a  son 
to  be  born,  of  a  child  to  be  given  ;  "  of  "  a  Being  who  was 
to  be  the  fellow  of  Jehovah  :  "  and  most  wonderful  appella- 
tions are  given  to  this  Being,  —  appellations  which  can 
rightfully  belong  to  no  human  creature.  All  this  keeps 
the  mind  suspended  as  to  God's  mode  of  existence ;  —  all 
this  leaves  it  yet  uncertain  how  the  Godhead  will  be  devel- 
oped, when  the  Revelation  shall  have  been  fully  made. 
Enough  is  seen  to  satisfy  us  that  there  is  an  unsolved  mys- 
tery, that  Beings  are  unfolding  behind  the  veil  who  are  one 


35  8  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

day  to  occupy  a  most  essential  place  in  the  economy  of 
grace  :  but  what  place,  and  in  what  precise  relation  to  the 
Godhead,  it  is  not  yet  possible  for  man  to  decide. 

But  so  soon  as  the  fullness  of  time  was  come,  when  God's 
plan  of  salvation  was  to  be  fully  disclosed,  the  whole  mys- 
tery is  made  plain,  and  throws  a  flood  of  light  back  upon 
all  the  dark  passages  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  especially 
upon  this  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  Let  us  now  turn  to  the 
second  Lesson  of  the  day,  the  third  chapter  of  S.  Matthew's 
Gospel,  and  see  how  that  illuminates  and  glorifies  the  first 
of  Genesis.  We  there  see  a  person  called  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth coming  out  of  Galilee  to  Jordan  unto  John,  to  be 
baptized  of  him.  "  But  John  forbade  him,  saying,  I  have 
need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me  ? " 
Why  did  John  forbid  Him  ?  He  had  forbidden  nobody  else. 
He  had  baptized  all  the  leading  people  of  the  Jews,  sol- 
diers, scribes,  Pharisees,  Sadducees  :  why  forbid  this  Man  ? 
He,  John,  was  by  very  far  the  greatest  of  all  the  Prophets  ; 
was  heralded  beforehand  by  prophecy  itself,  which  no  other 
man  had  ever  been ;  had  been  conceived  and  born  miracu- 
lously, and  then  trained  in  a  school  of  surprising  austerity. 
Who  then  was  this  to  whom  he  said  :  "  I  have  need  to  be 
baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me  ?  " 

Let  us  see  what  the  simple  narrative  says  :  — "  And 
Jesus  answering  said  unto  him,  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now  :  for 
thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness.  Then  he 
suffered  him.  And  Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up 
straightway  out  of  the  water :  and  lo,  the  heavens  were 
opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending 
like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  him  :  and  lo  a  voice  from 
heaven  saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased."  Here  are  evidently  three  distinct  agents  :  A 
voice  from  heaven,  as  the  voice  of  a  Father ;  a  being  in  the 
form  of  Man,  addressed  from  heaven  as  "  my  beloved  Son  ; 55 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  359 

and  that  same  Spirit  of  God  which  we  encountered  in  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis  brooding"  over  Chaos,  and  now  as- 
suming the  form  of  a  Dove.  This  is,  at  the  very  first  glance, 
very  striking,  occurring.,  as  it  does,  at  the  opening*  of  the 
Christian  dispensation ;  but  it  becomes  infinitely  more  so, 
when  we  turn  to  other  portions  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
compare  them  with  the  Old.  Who  is  this  beloved  Son?  — 
and  now  that  we  find  him  announced  from  Heaven  so  pub- 
licly, we  remember  that  the  Psalmist  said,  a  thousand  years 
before  :  —  "  Yet  have  I  set  my  King  upon  my  holy  hill  of 
Zion.  I  will  declare  the  decree  :  the  Lord  hath  said  unto 
me,  Thou  art  my  Son  ;  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.  Be 
wise  now  therefore,  0  ye  kings  :  be  instructed,  ye  judges  of 
the  earth.  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish 
from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little."  1  We 
remember  what  Isaiah  said  :  "  For  unto  us  a  child  is  born, 
unto  us  a  Son  is  given :  and  the  government  shall  be  upon 
his  shoulder :  and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful, 
Counsellor,  The  mighty  God,  The  Everlasting  Father,  The 
Prince  of  Peace."1  With  these  striking  passages  of  the 
Old  Testament  recurring  to  us,  and  with  the  recollection 
of  that  remarkable  phraseology  of  the  first  chapter  of  Gen- 
esis, "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,"  we  open  the  New 
Testament  at  the  first  chapter  of  S.  John's  Gospel,  —  the 
Gospel  of  that  Apostle  whom  Jesus  was  most  familiar  with, 
—  and  we  read  :  "  In  the  beginning  (the  very  time,  you  will 
notice,  of  the  Creation,  for  that  also  was  "in  the  begin- 
ning;" when,  we  do  not  know,  ages  ago,  perchance,  as 
science  teaches  us)  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the  begin- 
ning with  God.  All  things  were  made  by  him  ;  and  without 
him  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was  made."  If  this 
"  Word  "  can  be  shown  to  be  a  Person,  we  have  at  last  an 

1  Psalm  ii,  6,  7,  10,  12.  2  Isaiah  ix.  6. 


360  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

explanation  of  the  words  of  the  Old  Testament,  "  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image ; "  and  what  do  we  find  in  the  14th 
verse  of  this  first  chapter  of  S.  John  ?  —  "  And  the  Word 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  (and  we  beheld  his 
glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only-begotten  of  the  Father,) 
full  of  grace  and  truth."  This  "  Word  "  then,  who  was 
with  God  in  the  beginning,  who  was  God,  without  whom 
nothing  was  made  that  was  made,  is  the  person,  Jesus 
Christ,  who  was  pronounced  at  his  baptism  by  a  voice  from 
the  Father,  saying,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Sou,"  who  is  called 
elsewhere,  "the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,"1  "the  bright- 
ness of  his  glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,"2 
"  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  ending,  which 
is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." 3 
Is  this  a  second  God  ?  No !  for  the  Bible  tells  us,  "  I  am 
God,  and  there  is  none  else."  4  Is  this  God  the  Father  in 
human  flesh  ?  No  !  for  God  the  Father  says  of  Him,  "  This 
is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  What  is 
He  then  ?  for  He  is  called  in  Zechariah,  "  The  fellow  of 
Jehovah ;  "  in  Isaiah,  "  Wonderful  Counsellor  (mark  that 
word,  and  remember  "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image  "), 
The  mighty  God ; "  in  S.  John  absolutely,  "  God,"  —  "  The 
word  was  God ;  "  by  S.  Paul,  in  Colossians,  "  The  image  of 
the  invisible  God,"  by  whom  "  were  all  things  created,  that 
are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible, 
whether  they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or 
powers ; " 5  and  He  Himself  saith,  "  All  things  that  the 
Father  hath  are  mine," 6  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one." 7  He 
is  precisely  what  the  Creeds  of  the  Church  describe  Him  to 
you :  "  And  I  believe  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only- 
begotten  Son  of  God,  Begotten  of  his  Father  before  all 
worlds ;  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very  God, 

1  S.  John  iii.  18.         2  Heb.  i.  3.         3  Rev.  i.  8.         4  Isaiah  xlv.  22. 
5  Coloss.  i.  15,  16.       6  S.  John  xvi.  15.      *  s.  John  x.  30. 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  361 

Begotten  not  made,  Being  of  one  substance  with  the 
Father ;  By  whom  all  things  were  made :  "  and  this  Person 
we  call,  in  the  language  of  theology,  the  Second  Person  of 
the  adorable  Trinity. 

1866. 


€Ijirti?*t$ttf)  Sermon. 


And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  like- 
ness.—  Genesis  i.  26. 

Compared  with 

And  Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up  straightway  out  of 
the  water :  and,  lo,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw 
the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  him  : 
And  lo  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased. —  S.  Matthew  iii.  16,  17. 

[Second  Part.] 
In  pursuance  of  the  subject  begun  this  morning,  I  would 
now  draw  your  attention  to  the  fact,  that  in  the  first  chap- 
ter of  Genesis  we  were  informed  that  the  "  Spirit  of  God  " 
moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters ;  and  our  interest  was 
excited  by  it  at  the  moment.  Since  we  have  found,  in  the 
New  Testament,  so  much  light  thrown  upon  the  phrase 
"  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,"  we  feel  inclined  to  trace 
that  expression,  "  the  Spirit  of  God,"  and  see  to  what  it 
will  lead  us. 

We  now  perceive  very  clearly  that  Holy  Scripture  em- 
braces a  scheme  which  is  unfolded  gradually ;  —  that,  while 
it  wraps  up  in  the  very  first  moment  of  its  enunciation  the 
richest  and  most  precious  truths,  it  is  a  long  time  ere  they 
are  fully  developed.  Why  this  is  so,  it  would  occupy  far 
more  time  than  I  have  at  my  disposal  to  declare  unto  you ; 
suffice  it  to  say,  that  every  doctrine  of  our  holy  religion 
presents  a  like  feature,  and  that  it  is  in  strict  analogy  with 
the  other  arrangements  of  God,  which  all  seem  to  be  pro- 
gressive, unfolding  and  maturing  from  time  to  time :  not 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  363 

developing  in  any  way  like  that  advanced  in  the  La  Marck- 
ian  system ;  hut  all  perfect  from  the  beginning,  in  the  germ, 
though  only  displayed  to  man  when  the  fitting  time  was 
come,  and  when  he  was  ahle,  through  his  previous  disci- 
pline and  education,  to  receive  and  cherish  it.  Man  him- 
self, the  heing  whom  all  this  most  concerns,  has  to  pass, 
himself,  through  his  various  stages  of  embryo,  of  birth,  of 
infancy,  of  youth,  of  manhood.  How  much  time  is  occu- 
pied with  all  this !  Fully  as  much  of  his  life  is  expended 
in  mere  preparation  for  maturity,  as  afterwards  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  faculties :  —  quite  as  much,  in  proportion,  as  the 
unfolding  of  Christianity  has  occupied  of  the  world's  dura- 
tion. It  is  not,  therefore,  at  all  strange  that  a  Eevelation 
from  God  should  exhibit  this  feature :  nay,  it  should  be 
unlike  any  thing  else  in  creation,  if  it  did  not  exhibit  it. 
Language  has  been  progressive ;  Law  has  been  progres- 
sive ;  Government  has  been  progressive ;  Civilization  has 
been  progressive  :  why  not  Religion  ?  It  is  only  of  a  piece 
with  every  thing  else. 

To  return,  however,  to  our  point.  We  read  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis,  that  "  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon 
the  face  of  the  waters ; "  and  we  perceive,  as  I  said  this 
morning,  that  it  is  a  change,  and  has  a  meaning.  What 
and  who  is  this  "  Spirit  of  God  ?  "  Is  it  a  quality  ?  Is  it 
an  emanation  ?  Or  is  it  a  distinct  Person  in  the  Godhead  ? 
This  we  can  determine  only  by  an  examination  of  the  fur- 
ther records  of  Revelation.  Just  as  we  traced  out  the  Son, 
and  found  Him  to  be  a  Person  coequal  with  the  Father, 
must  we  trace  out  this  Spirit  of  God,  and  perfect  the  scheme 
of  the  Almighty.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  expla- 
nation or  elucidation  of  all  this  :  we  have  only  to  show  you 
that  it  is  contained  in  the  Revelation,  and  that,  being  con- 
tained there,  it  is  not  a  late  invention  drawn  from  Platon- 
ism,  or  from  Christian  philosophy ;  but  that  its  germs  are 


364  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

as  much  contained  in  the  very  earliest  books  of  the  Bible, 
as  the  germs  of  any  other  doctrine.  When  this  shall  have 
been  done,  I  must  leave  it  with  you :  with  you  must  rest 
the  responsibility  of  receiving  or  rejecting  God's  Revela- 
tion of  His  own  mode  of  existence.  As  I  told  you  this 
morning,  one  is  supposed  to  come  to  this  inquiry  knowing 
nothing ;  —  utterly  ignorant  of  who  God  is,  or  what  He  is, 
prepared  to  receive  whatever  He  may  reveal.  When  I  shall 
have  shown  you,  as  plainly  and  as  fairly  as  I  can,  what 
that  Revelation  announces,  my  task  will  be  finished.  It  is 
for  you  to  receive  it,  and  take  it  to  your  heart :  or  to 
reject  it,  and  disbelieve  it.  That  is  your  probation.  The 
contest  will  lie  between  what  the  world  erroneously  calls 
reason,  and  what  the  Bible  calls  faith.  For  myself,  I  can- 
not see  the  difficulty  which  some  men  pretend  to :  for  the 
simple  reason  that  one  mode  of  Divine  existence  is  just  as 
possible  as  another,  before  Revelation ;  and  therefore,  after 
Revelation,  should  be  received  as  truth  under  whatever 
aspect  it  may  be  presented  unto  us. 

We  find  in  the  third  chapter  of  S.  Matthew,  —  to  which 
we  now  turn  in  our  investigation  of  this  topic,  —  this 
Spirit  of  God  reintroduced  in  a  personal  shape :  "  And 
Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up  straightway  out  of 
the  water :  and,  lo !  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him, 
and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove,  and 
lighting  upon  him."  The  sacred  writer  does  not  say  that 
it  was  a  material  dove ;  but  "  descending  like  a  dove." 
Here  was  the  Son  just  ascending  from  the  waters  of  bap- 
tism; the  Father  uttering  His  voice  from  heaven,  saying, 
"  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ; "  and 
at  the  same  moment,  the  Spirit  of  God,  appearing  from  out 
the  riven  heavens,  descending  "  like  a  dove  :  "  three  agents, 
most  distinctly.  And  if  we  pursue  the  inquiry  respecting 
the  Spirit,  as  we  did  respecting  the  Son,  we  shall  arrive 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  365 

at  the  same  results:  the  results  of  Personality  aud  Di- 
vinity. 

The  "  Spirit  of  God/'  being  that  Person  of  the  Godhead 
who  was  to  be  made  manifest  to  man  latest  in  the  order  of 
time  ;  who,  although  operating  from  the  beginning  in  vari- 
ous ways,  —  moving  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  in  Creation, 
speaking  by  the  Prophets,  inspiring  the  holy  men  of  old,  — 
was  not  to  be  fully  developed  until  Christ's  departure  from 
the  world :  is  brought  before  us  clearly,  just  before  our 
Lord's  Crucifixion.  In  the  closing  chapters  of  S.  John's 
Gospel,  He  is  promised  by  Christ,  and  promised  as  a  Per- 
son :  "  But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom 
the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all 
things."  1  "  He  shall  testify  of  me."  2  "  He  will  reprove 
the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment." 3 
"  He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth." 4  And  surely  that 
which  teaches,  and  testifies,  and  reproves,  and  guides,  must 
be  what  we  call  a  Person.  These  powers  must  subsist  in 
some  substance ;  for  a  quality  cannot  do  these  things,  nor 
an  emanation:  and  wherever  they  do  subsist,  that  is  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

As  we  proceed  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  we  find  the 
care  of  the  Church  committed  to  this  Personal  agent. 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  we  showed  you  this  morning  to  be  the 
second  Person  in  the  Godhead,  is  now  ascended  into 
Heaven ;  is  acting  there  as  Advocate  and  Intercessor ;  is 
pleading  for  man  with  God.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  taken 
His  place  on  earth,  and  is  speaking,  acting,  directing  as  a 
Person  :  "  The  Spirit  said  unto  "  Peter,  "  Behold,  three 
men  seek  thee." 5  "  The  Holy  Ghost  said,  Separate  me 
Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called 
them."  6    "  Take  heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all 

1  S.  John  xiv.  26.  2  Ibid.  xv.  26.  3  Rid.  xvi.  8. 

4  Ibid.  xvi.  13.  5  Acts  x.  19.  6  Ibid.  xiii.  2. 


366  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

the  flock,"  says  S.  Paul  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  "  over  the 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers."  1  And 
whosoever  speaketh,  acteth,  ordaineth,  must  needs  have 
with  him  Personality. 

But  this  Spirit  of  God,  when  we  come  to  investigate  His 
claims,  is  more  than  a  Person  :  He  is  a  Divine  Person. 
For  we  find  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  thus  speaking  of  Him : 
"  Wherefore  I  say  unto  you,  All  manner  of  sin  and  blas- 
phemy shall  be  forgiven  unto  men  :  but  the  blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  forgiven  unto  men. 
And  whosoever  speaketh  a  word  against  the  Son  of  Man,  it 
shall  be  forgiven  him :  but  whosoever  speaketh  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this 
world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come."  2  How  could  a  dis- 
tinction be  made  in  blasphemy  against  the  Son  and  blas- 
phemy against  the  Holy  Ghost  unless  they  were  distinct 
Persons  ?  Could  sin  and  blasphemy  against  a  quality,  or 
an  emanation,  be  unpardonable,  while  sin  and  blasphemy 
against  the  Substance  upholding  that  quality  is  pardonable? 
But  again,  in  another  place  :  "  The  word  of  wisdom,"  "  the 
word  of  knowledge,"  "  faith,"  "  gifts  of  healing,"  "  mira- 
cles," "  prophecy,"  "  discerning  of  spirits,"  "  tongues," 
"  the  interpretation  of  tongues  : "  "  all  these  worketh  that 
one  and  the  self-same  Spirit  [the  Holy  Ghost]  dividing 
to  every  man  severally  as  he  will." 3  Would  all  these 
mightiest  operations  of  Divinity  be  entrusted  to  a  creature  ? 
No  !  if  there  be  any  thing  in  the  Scripture  that  proves 
Divinity,  it  is  ascriptions  such  as  these,  which  we  find  at 
every  step  laid  upon  the  Holy  Ghost. 

And  in  pursuing  this  investigation  we  can  proceed  yet  a 
step  further.  We  can  show  that  this  Spirit,  which  was 
found  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  moving  upon  the  face 
of  the  waters,  is  of  one  substance,  majesty,  and  glory  with 

1  Acts  xx.  28.         2  S.  Matthew  xii.  31,  32.         8  1  Cor.  xii.  8-11. 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  367 

the  Father  and  the  Son,  is  very  and  eternal  God.  Let  us 
pursue  this. 

Whatever  we  find  ascribed  to  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
we  find  also  ascribed  to  the  "  Spirit  of  God."  He  is  not 
left  in  shadow  and  obscurity.  He  comes  out  into  bold  re- 
lief, so  soon  as  the  moment  arrives  when  His  work  is  to  be 
performed.  "  In  the  beginning,"  says  our  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  "  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 
"  In  the  beginning,"  says  S.  John  in  his  Gospel,  "  was  the 
Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was 
God.  All  thiugs  were  made  by  him  ;  and  without  him  was 
not  any  thing  made  that  was  made."  1  The  Psalmist  beau- 
tifully describes  the  rapidity  of  creation  :  "  Thou  sendest 
forth  thy  Spirit,  they  are  created."  2  How  is  this  ?  —  three 
Creators?  No!  for  there  is  but  one  God.  How  then? 
Three  Persons  in  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead,  acting  in  har- 
mony. This  is  the  only  explanation  which  can  make  the 
Scriptures  consistent  :  and  therefore  is  it  the  Creed  of  the 
Church. 

But  again :  "  I  the  Lord,"  says  God  of  Himself  in  Jer- 
emiah, "  search  the  heart,  I  try  the  reins."  3  But  Christ 
says,  in  Revelation  :  "  All  the  Churches  shall  know  that 
I  am  he  which  searcheth  the  reins  and  hearts." 4  But 
S.  Paul  places  alongside  of  these  the  pretensions  of  the 
Spirit :  "  The  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep 
things  of  God." 5  Are  there  three  claimants  to  this  divine 
prerogative  of  searching  into  the  deep  things  of  man  and 
God  ?  No !  this  power  belongs  only  to  God  ;  and  if  three 
exercise  it,  then  are  they  Persons  of  the  one  Godhead,  act- 
ing in  fulfillment  of  the  inherent  privileges  which  belong  to 
each  and  all.  There  can  be  no  other  solution.  They  are 
all  Persons ;  they  are  all  Divine  Persons ;  they  are  all,  as  it 

1  S.  John  i.  1,  3.  2  Psalm  civ.  30.  8  Jeremiah  xvii.  10. 

4  Rev.  ii.  23.  5  1  Cor.  ii.  10. 


368  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 

seems,  possessed  of  equal  powers  :  and  yet  there  is  but  one 
"  God  5 "  there  "  is  none  else."  What  is  the  necessary  so- 
lution ?  It  can  be  but  that  which  our  Article  gives :  "  that 
in  the  unity  of  this  Godhead  there  be  three  Persons,  of  one 
substance,  power,  and  eternity ;  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost."1 

This  is  the  result  to  which  we  are  brought,  when  we  take 
hold  of  that  phrase,  "  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the 
face  of  the  waters,"  and  run  it  up  to  its  entire  development. 
It  introduces  us  to  a  Person,  to  a  Divine  Person,  to  a  Per- 
son having  like  attributes,  faculties,  powers,  with  the  Son 
and  with  the  Father.  Is  there  nothing,  then,  in  that 
phrase,  "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image  "  ?  I  trow,  I  have 
shown  you  that  there  was  a  great  deal ;  that  it  was  a 
most  pregnant  phrase ;  that  while,  in  the  germ,  it  seemed 
as  if  it  might  mean  something  or  nothing :  in  the  matur- 
ity, it  was  the  Power  of  God  and  the  Wisdom  of  God  unto 
salvation.  How  it  has  expanded  !  How  it  has  thrown  out 
leaf,  and  flower,  and  fruit,  on  every  hand,  until  it  has 
waxed  into  a  growth  overshadowing  the  whole  earth  and 
bringing  healing  to  the  nations  !  How  the  patient  humble 
inquirer  has  been  rewarded  for  his  long  waiting !  What 
before  was  mysterious,  has  been  made  plain  for  him ;  what 
hung  in  suspense,  has  become  settled  and  assured.  The 
word  "  God,"  which  was  his  first  introduction  to  the  idea 
of  the  Divine  existence,  has  been  explained  to  him ;  and 
he  now  rests  his  spirit,  with  folded  wings  and  in  peace, 
upon  the  wonderful  truths  of  Revelation.  He  is  no  longer 
stumbling  in  ignorance  and  darkness.  The  whole  truth 
has  been  placed  for  him  in  bold  relief  by  the  Church 
of  God:  and  God  is  with  him,  one  God;  yet  related  to 
him  through  the  blessed  names  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost. 

1  Article  I. 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  369 

But  it  is  said  that  the  Jews  never  held  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  and  that  it  is  strange  that  they  should  not 
have  perceived  it,  if  it  was  clearly  writ  upon  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. But  I  have  not  said  that  it  was  clearly  written 
there.  I  have  only  said,  what  is  strictly  true,  that .  its 
germs  were  all  there  ;  that  the  truths  were  infolded  in  such 
passages  as  I  have  been  commenting  upon  this  day ;  and 
that,  when  the  fullness  of  times  had  come,  they  would  man- 
ifest themselves  to  the  world.  It  would  be  contradicting 
myself  to  say,  that  those  truths  were  clearly  written  there : 
because  I  have  already  said  that  the  Christian  scheme  was 
progressive ;  was  a  thing  of  steps  and  stages ;  had  its  in- 
fancy, its  childhood,  its  maturity ;  and,  while  "  the  child  is 
father  of  the  man,"  no  one  will  pretend  that  he  can  clearly 
foresee  in  the  traits  of  the  child  the  future  development  of 
the  man.  All  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  show,  is,  that 
it  was  as  distinctly  there  as  any  of  the  other  most  essential 
doctrines  of  Christianity;  and  that,  if  the  Jews  did  not 
hold  it,  they  treated  it  no  worse  than  any  of  the  other 
truths  committed  to  their  keeping. 

If  there  was  one  doctrine  more  than  another  upon  which 
the  Jews  rested  all  their  hope  and  expectation,  it  was  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah.  This  involved  not  only  their  indi- 
vidual, but  their  national  anticipations.  It  was  not  only 
salvation  they  looked  for  through  him,  but  greatness  upon 
earth,  endurance  as  a  nation,  and  supremacy.  Let  us  then 
turn  back  to  Genesis  (the  third  chapter  this  time)  and  note 
the  very  obscure  form  in  which  that  Messiah  was  first 
promised  to  them.  In  the  curse  laid  upon  the  serpent,  God 
says :  "  And  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  wo- 
man, and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed ;  it  shall  bruise 
thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel."  1  That  is  all.  Is 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  any  more  obscurely  taught  than 

1  Gen.  iii.  15. 

24 


370  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

that  of  tlie  Messiah  in  its  beginning  ?  Has  not  that  to  be 
developed,  step  by  step,  just  as  the  other  doctrine  was  un- 
folded ?  It  rested  in  that  single  expression  until  the  time 
of  Abraham,  when  one  leaf  expanded  itself,  on  which  was 
written  :  "  In  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed." 1  And  after  that,  it  was  not  until  Jacob  lay  upon 
his  dying  bed  that  another  ray  stole  in  to  cheer  him  and  his 
family,  and  open  the  mystery  more  distinctly  and  gracious- 
ly :  "  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  law- 
giver from  between  his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come."2  And 
then  another  long  pause,  until  the  days  of  Moses,  —  al- 
though the  characteristics  of  the  Messiah  were,  all  the 
time,  being  written  upon  the  sacrificial  arrangements  of  the 
Jews,  —  when  it  was  promised  :  "  The  Lord  thy  God  will 
raise  up  unto  thee  a  Prophet  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy 
brethren,  like  unto  me;  unto  him  ye  shall  hearken."3  This 
is  all  the  progress  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Messiah  had 
made  in  five  and  twenty  hundred  years.  He  was  to  be  born 
of  a  woman,  and  in  some  mysterious  manner  to  be  her  seed ; 
He  was  to  descend  from  Abraham,  and  be  a  blessing  to  the 
whole  earth ;  He  was  to  come  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  before 
the  sceptre  should  depart  from  that  tribe ;  and  He  was  to 
be  a  Prophet  like  unto  Moses,  and  was  to  arise  among  the 
Israelites.  Was  that  any  faster  than  the  unfolding  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  especially  when  we  consider  that  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah  was  a  necessary  antecedent  to  the 
unfolding  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  ?  And  it  took  fifteen 
hundred  years  from  the  days  of  Moses  to  develop  that  Mes- 
siah in  all  His  characteristics,  so  that  He  should  be  known 
and  recognized  when  He  did  come !  And  who  received  him 
after  he  came  ?  "  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  re- 
ceived him  not."  4  So  soon  as  the  Persons  of  the  Trinity 
were  made  manifest  every  one  who  acknowledged  Christ 
1  Gen.  xxii.  18.     2  Ibid.  xlix.  10.      8  Deut.  xviii.  15.      *  S.  John  i.  11. 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  371 

acknowledged  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  whether  Jew  or  Gen- 
tile. "  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God  ?  "  "  Lord,  I 
believe."  1  This  was  the  confession  exacted  from  all ;  and 
they  received  it  one  and  all,  simultaneously  with  their  be- 
lief that  Jesus  of  Xazareth  was  the  Messiah. 

If  we  are  to  receive  a  doctrine  only  when  the  Jews  be- 
lieve in  it,  we  shall  strip  Christianity  very  bare  !  Who  of 
them  seemed  to  understand  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  the 
Messiah,  at  the  time  when  our  Lord  became  incarnate  *? 
Only  two,  that  I  read  of  in  the  Scriptures,  were  waiting  for 
the  consolation  of  Israel,  Simeon  and  Anna ;  together  with 
those  "  that  looked  for  redemption  in  Jerusalem."  At  the 
close  of  our  Lord's  ministry,  when  He  had  been,  for  three 
years,  instructing  the  Jews  by  every  means,  both  in  the 
nature  of  His  office  and  in  His  identity  with  the  Messiah  : 
a  mere  handful  acknowledged  Him.  And  why?  Because 
they  had  taken  up  wrong  notions  of  the  Messiah  :  because 
they  were  expecting  God  to  come  in  temporal  power ;  be- 
cause they  were  looking  for  an  earthly  monarch,  to  lead 
them  to  earthly  dominion.  And  because  they  did  not  un- 
derstand the  Messiah,  are  we  to  reject  Him  ?  Because 
they  in  their  blindness  and  madness  cried,  "  Away  with  this 
man," 2  "  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us," 3 
are  we  to  reject  Him  *?  Certainly  not.  TTe  have  received 
the  light  which  they  refused.  We  have  learned  through 
the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
agrees  exactly  with  the  requirements  of  the  Prophets. 
The  Jews  did  not  see  it.  because  of  their  prejudices  ;  but 
the  Gentiles,  of  whom  we  are  a  part,  saw  and  flocked 
to  the  brightness  of  His  rising.  And  if  we  do  not  reject 
Christ  as  the  Messiah  because  they  did  not  understand  the 
doctrines  respecting  Him  :  why  should  we  say  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  is  not  a  Scriptural  doctrine,  because 

1  S.  John  ix.  35,  38.  2  S.  Luke  xxiii.  IS.  3  Ibid.  xix.  14. 


372  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

they  did  not  hold  it  ?  It  was  of  much  greater  difficulty  to 
them  than  the  other;  it  was  of  much  less  necessity.  In 
the  order  of  the  divine  manifestations,  it  could  not  be  fully 
unfolded  until  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given ;  and  He  did  not 
come  until  after  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord.  Enough  for 
us  is  it,  that  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament  exhibit 
its  truth  all  wrapped  up  there,  and  give  intimations,  as  they 
ripen  into  the  fullness  of  time,  that  there  were  Beings  in 
the  Unity  of  the  Godhead,  who  were  to  illustrate  the  Chris- 
tian economy. 

It  would  be  as  unwise,  my  beloved  hearers,  for  us  to 
be  regulated  in  our  belief  by  the  Jews,  as  for  a  man  to 
be  directed  or  controlled  by  a  child.  "  The  Prophets," 
says  S.  Peter,  "  prophesied  of  the  grace  that  should  come 
unto  you  :  searching  what,  or  what  manner  of  time  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  signify,  when  it  tes- 
tified beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory 
that  should  follow.  Unto  whom  it  was  revealed,  that  not 
unto  themselves,  but  unto  us  they  did  minister  the  things, 
which  are  now  reported  unto  you  by  them  that  have 
preached  the  Gospel  unto  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  heaven ;  which  things  the  angels  desire  to  look 
into." 1  That  is  our  position,  —  the  highest  in  the  scale 
of  advancement.  All  that  have  come  before  us,  Patriarchs, 
Prophets,  Apostles,  the  incarnate  Son  of  God  Himself,  have 
ministered  unto  us.  The  truths  which  have  been  revealed 
to  us,  Angels  desire  to  look  into.  There  is  nothing  more 
to  be  revealed.  The  Book  of  Prophecy  and  of  Truth  is 
"closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end."2  We 
shall  receive  no  more  voices  from  between  the  cherubim, 
nor  from  out  that  higher  sanctuary  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  Heavens.  The  whole  record  of  God's  will  is 
before  us.  The  Holy  Spirit,  that  Spirit  which  moved  upon 
1 1  S.  Pet.  i.  10-12.  2  Daniel  xii.  9. 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  ^73 

the  face  of  the  waters  and  Drought  order  out  of  chaos, 
must  move  for  us  over  the  face  of  this  Revelation,  and 
make  it  harmony  and  peace  for  us :  harmony  in  its  truths, 
peace  in  its  fruits.  He  can  make  every  thing  clear  to  you, 
can  illumine  all  that  is  dark,  and  raise  up  all  that  is  low. 
Let  us  humble  ourselves  before  Him,  and  cry  for  knowl- 
edge ;  let  us  utter  the  words  which  are  suitable  to  our  con- 
dition, and  say : 

Eternal  Spirit,  by  whose  breath 
The  soul  is  raised  from  sin  and  death, 
Before  Thy  Throne  we  sinners  bend ; 
To  us  Thy  quickening  power  extend. 

1866. 


They  are  of  the  world :  therefore  speak  they  of  the  world,  and 
the  world  heareth  them.  We  are  of  God.  He  that  knoweth  God, 
heareth  us  ;  he  that  is  not  of  God,  heareth  ?iot  us.  Hereby  know 
we  the  spirit  of  truth,  and  the  spirit  of  error.  —  i  S.  John  iv.  5,  6. 

fTIHE  Church,  having  led  her  children  through  all  her 
■  circle  of  joy  and  of  sorrow,  from  the  Sundays  which 
proclaimed  the  Advent  of  her  Lord  up  to  the  moment  when 
she  wrapped  up  every  thing  in  the  glory  of  the  eternal 
Trinity,  begins  to-day  her  lessons  of  practical  piety,  the 
true  and  genuine  fruits  of  her  doctrine  ;  and  continues  them 
through  many  successive  Sundays,  until  she  has  exhausted 
the  topics  which  make  up  the  harmonious  Christian  charac- 
ter. The  facts  of  our  Saviour's  life,  and  the  great  conse- 
quences of  it,  lay  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  scheme : 
the  life  which  is  expected  to  grow  out  of  those  facts 
through  the  working  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  constitutes  its 
superstructure  and  perfectness.  Until,  therefore,  the  whole 
scheme  was  placed  before  us,  and  each  Person  of  the  ador- 
able Trinity  was  announced  and  unfolded  and  His  part  in 
the  economy  of  grace  was  distinctly  set  forth,  the  Church 
could  not  logically  press  good  works  upon  her  children,  be- 
cause they  were  the  fruits  of  Beings  and  of  Agents  not  yet 
clearly  made  known  to  the  world.  These  good  works  are 
called,  in  the  Scriptures,  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit ;  and  are 
thus  shown  to  be  dependent  upon  the  "  Spirit  of  God  "  of 
whom  we  treated  in  full  on  the  last  Lord's  day.  But  now, 
having  developed  fully  the  whole  earth-life  of  our  Saviour, 


Tests  of  Truth  and  Error.  375 

and  having  commemorated  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  tanght  us  that  all  Church  work  has  been  vested  in  Him, 
so  that  we  are  said  to  be  living  under  the  dispensation  of 
the  Spirit :  she  begins  to-day  with  a  general  proposition, — 
how  we  may  distinguish  between  a  spirit  of  error  and  a 
spirit  of  truth.  This  distinction  is  of  the  most  important 
kind,  and  precedes  all  personal  action  :  for  until  we  can  be 
certain  that  we  are  right,  we  will  not  press  forward  with 
that  zeal  and  devotion  which  are  becoming  to  the  Christian 
character. 

We  must  not  suppose  that  when  the  work  of  Christ  was 
consummated,  and  His  Church  established  in  the  world 
through  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  inspired  men 
wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God  and  com- 
mitted those  writings  to  the  care  of  the  Church,  that  all 
opposition  ceased  to  truth  and  godliness.  The  Devil,  't  is 
true,  had  been  vanquished  by  Christ  in  all  the  conflicts  they 
had  waged ;  Death  and  the  grave  had  been  conquered ;  sin 
had  been  made  powerless  against  all  who  procured  for 
themselves  the  strength  of  Christ :  but  the  Church  was  yet 
militant  upon  earth,  and  each  individual  had  yet  his  proba- 
tion to  pass  through  on  his  passage  to  Heaven.  'T  is  true, 
for  the  comfort  of  us  who  are  undergoing  this  probation, 
that  "  greater  is  He  that  is  in  us,  than  He  that  is  in  the 
world : 55 1  but  nevertheless  the  Devil  is  still  permitted  to 
rage,  and  "  to  contend  against  that  which  he  cannot  over- 
throw ;  to  corrupt  what  is  good,  to  pervert  what  is  true,  to 
disseminate  error,  to  disfigure  the  fair  beauty  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Lord,  didst  Thou  not  sow  good  seed  in  Thy  field? 
From  whence,  then,  hath  it  tares?  .  .  .  An  enemy  hath 
done  this." 

It  is  this  enemy  that  fills  the  world  with  spirits  of  error, 
who  mislead  those  whom  they  profess  to  guide.    And  these 

1  1  S.  John  iv.  4. 


376 


Tests  of  Truth  and  Error. 


spirits  of  error  assume  a  thousand  shapes,  —  from  the 
grossest  licentiousness  and  ungodliness,  up  to  angels  of 
light,  so  as  to  deceive,  if  it  were  possible,  the  very  elect. 
It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  error  is  always  hid- 
eous. Far  from  it :  it  is  often  very  attractive,  because  it  is 
made  to  harmonize  with  the  affections  and  feelings  of 
human  nature ;  to  captivate  the  imagination ;  to  charm 
the  fancy ;  to  satisfy  the  lusts ;  to  counterfeit  truth ;  and 
so  to  disguise  itself  as  to  require  a  keen  spiritual  discern- 
ment to  detect  the  cheat.  Nor  is  it  confined  to  the  world. 
It  creeps  into  the  Church,  fomenting  divisions,  corrupting 
the  spirituality  of  the  faith,  overlaying  the  plain  word  of 
Scripture  with  traditions,  bringing  into  the  sanctuary  the 
meretricious  accessories  which  distinguished  Paganism, 
and  giving  power  to  unbelief  by  hiding  the  simple  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus.  And  all  this  is  going  on  perpetually.  It 
never  ceases.  When  driven  away  out  of  the  Church  under 
one  form,  it  creeps  back  very  soon  under  another ;  so  that 
no  age  and  no  individual  is  exempt  from  the  trial.  All 
along  the  history  of  the  Church,  are  spread  out  the  various 
heresies  which  have  disfigured  and  perverted  the  Truth. 
Her  whole  pilgrimage,  from  Calvary  until  these  latter  days, 
is  strewed  with  the  victims  of  the  deluding  spirit  of  error ; 
and  in  nothing  is  Church  History  more  interesting  and 
more  important,  than  in  its  faithful  delineation  and  its 
graphic  exposure  of  this  innumerable  spawn  of  error. 
Thick  as  locusts  have  they  lighted  down  upon  the  fair  fields 
of  the  Church,  and  eaten  up  the  good  seed  which  has  been 
sown,  or  else  so  intermingled  the  seeds  of  untruth  that  the 
harvest  has  been  meagre  and  unwholesome.  How  impor- 
tant, then,  that  the  beloved  disciple  should,  ere  he  left  the 
world,  have  warned  —  in  his  own  loving  words,  with  his 
own  loving  heart — those  who  were  to  follow  him,  —  "  Be- 
loved, believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether 


Tests  of  Truth  and  Error.  377 

they  are  of  God : " 1  and  should  have  left  to  us  in  his  in- 
spired word  the  means  of  separation  between  truth  and 
error. 

Every  age  has,  of  course,  its  own  peculiar  temptations ; 
and  S.  John,  in  the  beginning  of  the  chapter  from  which  we 
preach,  is  guarding  his  contemporaries  against  a  particular 
form  of  heresy,  connected  with  the  personality  of  Christ, 
which  was  rife  at  that  time  :  but  as  he  proceeds,  he  gener- 
alizes his  subject ;  and  it  is  from  that  generalization  that  I 
preach  to-day,  and  warn  you  against  the  spirit  of  error, 
which  —  as  I  said  before  —  is  always  rife,  and  very  much  so 
in  our  times  and  in  our  country.  And  in  that  generaliza- 
tion he  makes  these  distinctions  :  "  They  are  of  the  world :  " 
"  We  are  of  God."  "  They  speak  of  the  world,  and  the 
world  heareth  them :  "  "  We  speak  from  God ;  he  that 
knoweth  God,  heareth  us.  He  that  is  not  of  God,  heareth 
not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  spirit  of  Truth  and  the  spirit 
of  error." 

The  great  distinction  between  truth  and  error  which  is 
made  in  this  place,  is  that  the  one  is  only  acceptable  and 
listened  to  by  those  who  are  of  God,  while  the  other  is  lis- 
tened to  by  those  who  are  of  the  world.  The  world  refuses 
to  listen  to  any  doctrine  which  requires  a  departure  from 
the  ways  of  the  world,  or  which  proceeds  upon  principles 
antagonistic  to  those  of  the  world.  If  Christianity  calls 
for  faith,  the  world  rejects  it :  because  that  proceeds  upon 
sight  and  sense.  If  it  demands  its  acceptance  because  re- 
vealed by  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  world  will  not  hear  it : 
because  that  rests  its  conclusions  upon  reasoning  and  in- 
duction. If  it  requires  self-denial  and  self-discipline,  the 
world  turns  away  from  it :  because  that  loves  ease  and 
indulgence.  If  it  proclaims  the  heinousness  and  punish- 
ment of  sin,  the  world  repudiates  it :  because  it  cannot  see 

1 1  S.  John  iv.  1. 


378  Tests  of  Truth  and  Error.  - 

the  odiousness  of  sin ;  nor  how  what  it  considers  a  slight 
offense  can  deserve  such  penal  infliction.  If  it  call  for  re- 
mission of  sin  through  the  shedding  of  blood,  the  world 
flings  it  away  with  abhorrence :  because  that  declares 
repentance  and  amendment  of  life  to  be  all-sufficient.  If 
it  teaches  the  coming  and  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
world  expresses  disgust  at  such  fanaticism :  because  that 
deems  the  light  of  nature,  of  reason,  and  of  conscience,  to 
be  enough  for  man,  in  time  and  in  eternity.  If  it  points  to 
the  Church  and  her  ordinances  and  sacraments  as  necessary 
to  salvation,  the  world  consents  to  it  as  an  institution  of 
civilization  and  morality,  but  will  go  no  further :  because 
that  thinks  such  an  institution  is  not  necessary  for  man's 
salvation. 

And  thus,  from  Alpha  to  Omega,  from  the  very  first  doc- 
trine of  Christianity  to  that  Church  which  is  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  Truth,  the  world  is  opposed  to  the  whole 
spirit  of  Christianity,  to  all  the  doctrines  which  make  its 
distinctiveness,  and  to  all  the  practices  which  are  its  orna- 
ment and  its  power.  And  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  so 
will  it  ever  be  to  the  end.  And  thus  is  furnished  a  test 
between  truth  and  error.  For  all  this  which  the  world 
rejects  and  repudiates,  the  child  of  God  receives  and  appro- 
priates and  lives  upon.  It  is  the  very  foundation  of  his 
hope ;  the  very  anchor  of  his  soul ;  the  very  life  of  his 
spirit;  the  very  comfort  of  the  present,  and  the  hope  of 
the  future ;  the  confidence  which  he  has,  that  he  shall  be 
able  to  stand  in  the  day  of  final  account.  What  one  re- 
jects, the  other  hugs  to  his  bosom ;  what  one  considers  as 
the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation, 
the  other  deems  foolishness ;  what  one  makes  the  rule  of 
his  life,  the  other  counts  unnatural  and  ascetic.  And  so 
they  stand,  hostile  at  every  point ;  in  doctrine,  in  worship, 
in  discipline,  in  life :  and  so  they  afford  a  striking  and 


Tests  of  Truth  and  Error.  379 

pregnant  standard  for  the  decision  of  truth  and  of  error, 
that  is,  of  truth  in  accordance  and  sympathy  with  the 
Christian  Revelation ;  of  error,  in  antagonism  and  antipa- 
thy to  it.  If  one  wishes  to  try  the  spirit  that  is  tempting 
him,  let  him  see  whether  that  spirit  is  accepted  hy  the 
world  and  is  popular  with  it,  or  whether  it  is  in  harmony 
with  the  Church,  and  is  welcomed  by  the  children  of  God. 
Each  has  its  own  instinct,  its  rapid  power  of  perception 
and  decision.  Each  knows  its  own,  and  rushes  to  its  em- 
brace. Those  who  are  of  the  world  drink  in  the  teachings 
of  the  spirits  of  error,  and  get  drunk  over  them.  Those 
who  are  of  God  shrink  from  them,  as  a  maiden  from  im- 
purity, or  an  honorable  man  from  shame.  When  a  spirit  is 
not  accepted  by  the  children  of  God,  beware  of  it !  When 
it  does  not  harmonize  with  the  doctrinal  teachings  of  the 
Church,  turn  away  from  it !  It  is  false,  and  will  run  rap- 
idly into  error. 

This  is  one  test  of  truth.  But  there  is  yet  another, 
quite  as  important,  which  must  be  kept  before  the  mind ; 
and  that  is,  that  any  doctrine  is  necessarily  error,  which 
strikes  at  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  which 
elevates  any  thing  above  Him  in  reverence  and  in  worship. 
It  is  His  Divinity,  which  is  the  special  object  of  hatred  on 
the  part  of  the  Devil.  His  Divinity  it  was,  which  drove  him 
headlong,  "  with  hideous  ruin  and  combustion  dire,"  from 
the  precincts  of  God's  holy  habitation ;  it  was  His  Divinity, 
which  baffled  all  his  designs  against  man  ;  it  is  His  Divin- 
ity, which  holds  him  in  a  grasp  of  iron,  and  will  one  day 
bind  him  in  fetters  of  adamant  in  that  bottomless  pit 
which  is  prepared  for  him  and  his  angels.  That  Divinity 
he  therefore  hates  with  all  the  intensity  of  his  devilish 
malice,  and  against  it  he  hurls  all  the  instruments  which 
he  can  wield  through  Nature  and  through  man.  Around 
that  Divinity  has  his  fury  always  raged,  and  —  sad  to 


380  Tests  of  Truth  and  Error. 

say  —  he  finds  in  the  world  those  who  are  ready  to  assist 
him,  and  ready  to  cooperate  with  him,  against  Him  who 
came  to  earth  to  redeem  and  to  save  a  fallen  race.  He 
stirs  up  some  to  deny  the  reality  of  His  personality,  as  in 
S.  John's  day ;  others  to  deny  his  Divinity,  as  in  our  day. 
He  incites  some  to  lower  His  dignity  and  make  Him  no 
more  than  a  created  being ;  others  to  give  Him  Divinity, 
but  to  refuse  to  acknowledge  his  coequality  with  the  Father. 
In  our  day  this  hatred  is  running  into  terrible  excess,  and 
Christ  is  assaulted,  in  every  form  and  shape,  if  so  be  that 
He  may  be  degraded  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  men 
be  led  to  look  elsewhere  than  to  Him  for  salvation.  He  is 
denounced  as  a  myth.  His  miracles  are  all  denied  and 
attempted  to  be  explained  by  what  are  called  —  idly  enough 
—  rational  solutions.  His  Atonement  is  ridiculed  as  ab- 
surd. His  power  to  save  is  confined  to  His  influence  as  a 
man  of  wisdom  and  of  goodness.  His  teachings  are  derided 
as  below  the  wisdom  of  the  current  times ;  His  philosophy 
as  too  shallow  for  such  an  age  of  progress  and  advance- 
ment. This  is  the  current  language  of  the  world.  And 
while  these  taunts  and  reproaches  are  hurled  upon  Him 
from  the  one  side,  on  the  other  hand  one  of  the  oldest 
branches  of  the  Church  is  divesting  Him  of  His  honors  and 
His  offices  in  favor  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  whom  they  think 
thus  to  honor  by  the  degradation  of  her  Son.  It  is  hor- 
rible to  read  the  language  which  is  used,  upon  this  head, 
in  the  practical  working  of  the  Roman  Church.  A  few  of 
these  expressions  will  I  quote,  using  as  my  authority  no 
less  a  divine  and  scholar  than  Dr.  Pusey,  —  a  man  never 
considered  an  enemy  to  Rome,  but  who  says,  in  his  late 
work,  Tlie  Eirenicon,  that  he  is  kept  from  any  further 
advance  towards  Rome  by  expressions  such  as  these :  — 

"  Her  intercession  (L  e.  the  intercession  of  the  Virgin 
Mary)  is  held  to  be  coextensive  with  His  '  who  ever  liveth 


Tests  of  Truth  and  Error,  381 

to  make  intercession  for  us'  —  our  divine  Lord,  and  to  be 
the  access  to  His  intercession.  And  this  is  taught,  not  as 
the  glowing  expression  of  Southern  feeling,  but  as  the  de- 
liberate mind  of  the  present  Roman  Church."  "  God/'  it  is 
conceded,  "  could  grant  His  graces  without  the  intercession 
of  Mary,"  but  it  is  asserted  that  He  will  not.  It  is  one 
of  their  most  learned  writers  who  says :  "It  is  the  univer- 
sal sentiment  of  the  [Roman]  Church,  that  the  interces- 
sion of  Mary  is  not  only  useful,  but  necessary,  with  a  moral 
necessity ;  because  the  Church  seems  to  think  that  God  has 
determined  to  give  us  no  grace  except  through  the  hands 
of  Mary."  So,  then,  it  is  taught  in  authorized  books,  that 
"  it  is  morally  impossible  for  those  to  be  saved  who  neglect 
the  devotion  to  the  blessed  Virgin ; "  that  "  it  is  the  will 
of  God  that  all  graces  should  pass  through  her  hands ; " 
that  Jesus  has  in  fact  said  :  "  2no  one  shall  be  partaker  of 
My  Blood,  unless  through  the  intercession  of  My  Mother ; " 
that  "  our  salvation  is  in  her  hands ; "  that  "  whom  the 
justice  of  God  saves  not,  the  infinite  mercy  of  Mary  saves, 
by  her  intercession ;  "  that  "  God  is  subject  to  the  com- 
mand of  Mary ;  "  that  "  God  has  resigned  into  her  hands 
His  omnipotence  in  the  sphere  of  grace ;  "  that  "  it  is  safer 
to  seek  salvation  through  her,  than  directly  from  Jesus  ; " 
that  "  God  retain eth  justice  unto  Himself,  and  granted 
mercy  to  her ;  "  that  "  she  is  the  Throne  of  Grace,  whereof 
the  Apostle  speaketh ; "  that  "  she  appeaseth  the  just 
anger  of  her  Son ; "  that  "  she  is  the  only  Refuge  of  those 
who  have  incurred  the  Divine  indignation."  And,  to  show 
you  the  impression  which  this  cultus  of  the  Virgin  Mary  is 
making  upon  heathen  lands,  Dr.  Pusey  states  that  "  In 
southern  India  and  Ceylon,  our  churches  are  called  by  the 
natives,  4  Jesus  Churches  ; '  the  Roman  Catholic  Churches, 
<  Mary  Churches. '  " 
Does  it  not  seem  wonderful  ?    And  does  it  not  make  us 


382  Tests  of  Truth  and  Error, 

tremble  at  the  power  of  Satan,  and  at  his  ability  of  placing 
error  in  the  room  of  truth,  that  a  system  of  teaching  like 
this  can  be  tolerated  by  people  having  the  Holy  Scriptures 
in  their  keeping  ?  And  yet  it  is  not  only  tolerated,  but 
perverts  are  making  to  it  in  England  and  this  country,  — 
perverts  among  the  intelligent  and  the  learned.  For  these 
things,  which  I  have  quoted,  are  not  accusations  made  in  a 
corner,  but  have  been  published  in  the  face  of  the  world  by 
one  of  the  profoundest  theologians  of  the  day,  and  chal- 
lenge confutation.  It  teaches  us  how  we  are  all  liable  to 
be  deceived  and  blinded ;  —  how  the  same  spirit  of  error 
can  exhibit  itself  in  the  boldest  rationalism  on  the  one  side, 
and  in  the  most  extreme  Church  worship  on  the  other 
hand  :  how  Christ  may  be  degraded  by  a  denial  of  His  Di- 
vinity ;  and  still  so  much  degraded  by  such  an  exaltation 
of  the  blessed  being  from  whom  He  was  born  after  the  flesh, 
as  to  place  the  dispensation  of  His  grace  at  her  command. 
The  same  result  is  produced  by  either  process  ;  and  each  is 
alike  welcome  to  the  world  and  the  Devil. 

Let  us  pause  here,  and  furnish  you  with  a  second  test  for 
distinguishing  truth  and  error  in  Christianity.  The  first 
was  by  noticing  how  any  doctrine  or  practice  was  received 
by  the  world  and  the  Church  respectively :  the  second  is  to 
observe  how  any  doctrine  or  practice  which  may  come  upon 
you,  deals  with  the  character  and  offices  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  For  the  whole  purpose  of  Christianity  is  to  exalt 
Jesus  Christ ;  is  to  teach  that  salvation  comes  only  through 
His  Name ;  is  to  place  Him  above  all  created  beings  which 
are  in  heaven  and  which  are  upon  earth ;  is  to  glorify  Him 
up  to  an  equality  with  the  Father  in  the  one  eternal  God- 
head ;  is  to  place  every  thing  of  mercy,  of  grace,  and  of 
glory,  within  His  gift ;  is  to  crown  Him  Lord  of  lords  and 
King  of  kings.  To  divest  Him  of  any  of  these  preroga- 
tives, or  to  place  any  one  above  Him,  is  to  teach  what  is 


Tests  of  Truth  and  Error,  383 

discordant  with  the  whole  scope  and  tenor  of  Scripture ;  is 
to  indicate  at  once  a  spirit  of  error  pervading  the  teachings 
whether  of  individual  or  Church.  It  is  an  infallible  rule, 
one  which  I  leave  with  you  without  any  fear  of  abuse. 
Christ  Jesus,  the  only-begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  must 
stand  in  Christianity  preeminent  as  its  central  Image : 
crowned  with  thorns  in  this  world ;  but,  in  the  hereafter, 
crowned  with  the  glory  of  all  the  hierarchy  of  Heaven  and 
all  the  redeemed  of  earth  casting  their  crowns  at  His  feet, 
and  crying :  "  Blessing  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power,  be 
unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb, 
forever  and  ever." 1 

These  are  the  two  tests  which  arise  naturally  out  of  our 
text,  and  should  be  used  freely  and  fearlessly  in  the  deter- 
mination of  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the  spirit  of  error.  Men 
often  hide  themselves  from  their  convictions  by  affirming 
that  they  cannot  distinguish  between  truth  and  error.  In 
this  are  they  mistaken,  for  in  Christianity  they  are  separated 
by  very  marked  lines.  The  world  points  them  out  to  every 
honest,  sincere  mind ;  the  Church  points  them  out ;  the 
children  of  God  point  them  out.  All  these  have  their  fin- 
gers pointed  directly,  the  one  to  truth,  the  other  to  error, 
just  as  fixedly  as  the  needle  points  to  the  star.  What  is 
wanted  by  man  is,  not  the  power  to  distinguish  truth  from 
error :  it  is  the  mil.  His  own  nature,  in  its  state  of  cor- 
ruption from  the  fall,  is  against  the  truth.  He  is  glad  to 
be  blinded ;  and  so  the  god  of  this  world  blinds  him,  now 
by  pride  of  reason,  now  by  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  now 
by  the  lusts  and  cares  of  the  current  life,  now  by  the  evil 
heart  of  unbelief.  Truth  and  error  are  before  him:  and 
others  —  those  who  have  submitted  to  be  guided  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  —  clearly  distinguish  between  them.  He 
cannot,  because  he  must  guide  himself ;  because  he  places 

1  Rev.  v.  13. 


384  Tests  of  Truth  and  Error, 

reason  above  faith ;  Nature  above  Revelation  ;  the  delusions 
and  vanities  of  the  world  above  truth  and  the  reality  of  life. 
The  words  of  Scripture  point  out  the  way,  —  "I  am  the 
way,"  says  Christ ;  point  out  the  truth,  —  "I  am  the 
truth,"  says  Christ ;  indicate  the  proper  frame  of  mind  to 
attain  it,  — "  Be  not  wise  in  thine  own  eyes :  fear  the 
Lord,  and  depart  from  evil ; " 1  and  crown  all  with  the 
glorious  reward  :  "To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to 
sit  with  me  in  my  Throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am 
set  down  with  my  Father  in  His  Throne."  2 

1866. 

1  Prov.  iii.  7.  2  Rev.  iii.  21. 


Zl)ivtptittt)  Sermon. 


These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promises,  but  hav- 
ing seen  them  afar  off,  and  were  persuaded  of  them,  and  embraced 
them,  and  confessed  that  they  were  strangers  arid  pilgrims  on  the 
earth.  For  they  that  say  such  things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek 
a  country.  —  Hebrews  xl  13,  14. 


HRISTIAXITY  has  its  rolls  of  fame,  as  well  as  the 


^  world  ; — its  catalogue  of  wise  and  heroic  men.  who 
have  illustrated  its  annals  and  glorified  the  name  of  Jesus 
upon  earth.  And  these  stretch  hack  to  a  period  coeval 
with  the  creation.  —  before  whose  antiquity  all  the  records 
of  existing  nations  fade  into  utter  insignificance.  What  is 
the  roll  of  Battle  Abbey,  what  the  lineage  of  the  Caesars, 
what  the  song  of  Troy,  what  even  the  cylinders  of  Assyria 
or  the  obelisks  of  the  Nile,  compared  with  a  monument  like 
that  of  the  Bible,  embracing  the  undying  actions  of  such 
beings  as  Abraham,  and  Noah,  and  Enoch,  and  Abel '? 
Those  are  but  of  yesterday :  these,  the  deeds  which  were 
performed  when  the  world  lay  in  its  primeval  glory,  —  the 
Golden  Age,  ere  yet  man  had  defaced  its  beauties  with  his 
hand  of  ruthless  violence.  And  although  they  tell  not  of 
conquered  nations  and  devastated  countries ;  although 
their  note  of  triumph  is  not  swelled  with  the  groans  of  the 
dying  and  the  curses  of  the  slaughtered:  although  no 
earthly  pyramids  nor  colossal  piles  mark  the  spots  where 
they  died  —  a  holy  baud  of  martyrs  :  still  are  they  memo- 
rials of  the  highest  heroism  the  world  has  ever  known  ! 
These  heroes  did  not  conquer  man,  but  they  subdued  within 


386 


These  all  died  in  Faith. 


themselves  the  fear  of  man  ;  they  did  not  trample  upon  the 
necks  of  prostrate  kings,  but  they  put  under  their  feet  the 
ivorld  and  the  love  of  the  world  ;  they  did  not  found  dynasties 
and  establish  nations,  but  they  planted  in  the  earth  the 
seed  of  Faith,  confident  that  it  would,  in  God's  own  time, 
become  the  salvation  of  the  world !  Theirs  was  the  hero- 
ism of  self-denial,  —  of  conquest  over  things  present,  of 
martyrdom  for  despised  truth.  Theirs  was  the  glory  of 
seeing  the  end  from  the  beginning ;  of  heralding,  before 
even  the  gray  dawn  of  morning,  —  by  starlight,  as  it  were,1 
—  the  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  :  theirs  the  di- 
vine privilege  of  living  —  before  the  example  of  Christ's 
life  was  exhibited  upon  the  earth  —  as  men  should  live, 
who  are  "  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh, 
nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  2  Their  memorial  has 
been  cast  out  by  profane  history,  but  it  has  been  preserved 
by  holy  men  of  old,  speaking  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Their  names  have  found  no  record  among  the 
lyric  songs  of  the  Pierian  spring ;  but  lips  touched  with  a 
live  coal  from  off  the  Altar,  have  embalmed  them  in  undy- 
ing prophecy.  They  have  received  no  glory  here,  but  they 
stand  among  the  four-and-twenty  elders,  around  the  throne 
of  God,  with  their  crowns,  and  with  their  harps,  singing 
forever  the  "  new  song  "  of  the  Redeemed. 

Such  men,  and  it  is  of  these  we  preach  to-day,  were  men 
of  like  corruption  and  like  infirmities  with  ourselves,  and 
yet  have  now  their  places  upon  this  record  of  inspired  fame. 
And  this,  too,  under  enormous  disadvantages.  Like  us  — 
for  all  the  just  must  live  by  faith — they  were  required  not 
only  to  live  by  faith,  but  to  die  in  faith  ;  and  that  faith  rest- 
ing only  upon  promises  !  Verily  may  we  blush  when  we 
read  their  deeds  of  spiritual  power,  and  remember  the  wide 
difference  between  the  promises  in  which  they  rested,  and 
i  2  S.  Pet.  i.  19.  2  S.  John  i.  13. 


These  all  died  in  Faith. 


387 


the  fall  light  of  Gospel  fulfillment  which  shines  upon  us. 
if  they  were  faithful  unto  death,  only  seeing  the  promises 
afar  off :  how  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great  sal- 
vation? If  they  confessed  that  they  were  pilgrims  and 
strangers  upon  the  earth,  with  nothing  to  support  them 
but  a  persuasion  that  what  God  promised  He  would  per- 
form :  how  ought  we  to  live,  when  our  faith  rests  upon  a 
covenant  spoken  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Himself  in  person,  con- 
firmed unto  us  by  them  that  heard  Him,  God  also  bearing 
them  witness  both  with  signs  and  wonders  and  with  divers 
miracles  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Let  us  to-day  ex- 
amine their  faith,  aud  our  unbelief ! 

Earth  seems,  to  the  eye  of  sense,  to  be  man's  home.  It 
is  the  ouly  substantial  thing  which  meets  his  eye,  amid 
things  unsubstantial.  The  sea,  the  air,  the  heavens,  are  all 
restless  and  unstable,  unfitted  for  his  resting-place.  He 
can  use  them  for  his  purposes,  but  it  is  always  at  his  peril ; 
and  his  feeling  of  security  returns  to  him  ouly  when  he 
finds  himself  once  more  upon  the  bosom  of  his  Mother 
Earth.  'Tis  there  he  builds,  and  plants,  and  reaps;  'tis 
there  his  plans  are  carried  out ;  his  feelings  are  all  bouud 
up  with  it,  his  associations  and  his  affections  are  twined 
around  it.  Upon  it,  shall  all  he  really  knows  of  life  be 
spent ;  and  when  that  life  is  done,  he  will  commit  his  body 
to  its  keeping,  and  leave  his  children,  his  treasures,  his 
works,  still  to  endure  upon  it.  He  has  no  real  bodily  con- 
nection with  any  thing  else ;  and  although  his  mind  can 
soar  into  regions  of  abstraction,  and  create  unsubstantial 
images :  it  is  forced  quickly  to  return  to  the  earth,  and  at- 
tend to  the  necessities  of  its  daily  life.  The  beings  like 
himself  who  inhabit  its  surface  are  those  with  whom  his 
comfort  and  his  happiness  are  inseparably  bound  up.  To 
agree  with  them  in  opinions  and  interest,  is  to  be  at  peace  : 
to  differ  from  them,  and  to  be  peculiar,  is  to  be  in  a  state 


388  These  all  died  in  Faith. 

of  warfare.  Contempt  and  ridicule  are  his  portion  when 
his  aims  and  purposes  are  contrary  to  the  current  views  of 
his  fellows  5  and  persecution  and  martyrdom,  when  he  dares 
to  correct  their  errors,  or  himself  pursue  a  better  course  of 
life.  This  is  man's  connection  with  the  earth.  Every 
thing*  entices  him  to  make  it  his  rest ;  and  strong  indeed 
must  be  the  motive  which  should  induce  him  to  rise  in  re- 
bellion against  its  allurements,  and  walk,  an  independent 
being,  in  an  atmosphere  above  that  which  all  around  him 
breathe. 

Well,  this  was  just  what  these  men  of  whom  I  preach 
to-day,  dared  to  do.  Not  only  were  they  bold  to  live  upon 
this  earth,  such  as  I  have  described  it,  as  strangers  and  pil- 
grims ;  but  they  were  willing  to  confess  it.  They  were  not 
ashamed  to  acknowledge  before  an  earth-loving  generation, 
—  in  the  face  of  men  who  were  adding  field  to  field  and 
joining  house  to  house,  —  that  they  had  more  confidence 
in  the  Word  of  God,  than  in  the  sight  of  their  eyes  and 
the  experience  of  their  fellows.  They  were  ready,  not  only 
to  give  up  what  of  comfort  and  of  happiness  there  was  in 
earthly  permanency  and  earthly  influence,  but  also  to  bear 
reproach  and  ridicule  for  their  conduct.  They  had  nothing 
to  rest  upon  but  the  hare  word  of  God  :  and  yet,  for  it,  they 
were  prepared  to  yield  up  every  thing  which  their  eye  told 
them  was  fair  and  pleasant,  and  to  act  contrary  to  what 
every  appearance  in  Nature  seemed  to  warrant.  All  of  you 
who  know  any  thing  of  human  life,  know  how  hard  this  is 
to  bear ;  but  it  will  be  still  more  apparent  when  I  shall  have 
selected  two  of  the  individuals  named  in  the  catalogue 
which  precedes  my  text,  and  shown  you,  in  their  cases, 
what  was  meant  by  being  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the 
earth. 

If  we  attempt  to  reproduce  the  earth  in  the  days  of 
Noah,  we  shall  find  it  full  of  unbelief  and  vile  corruption. 


These  all  died  in  Faith. 


389 


The  touches  of  the  Bible  are  few,  but  vigorous.  It  tells  of 
the  intermarriage  of  the  sons  of  God  with  the  daughters 
of  men,  intimating  in  an  obscure  way  the  yielding  of  the 
righteous  to  temptation  and  to  sin.  It  tells  of  the  wanton 
disregard  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  so  that  it  "  should  not 
always  strive  with  man." 1  It  speaks  of  giants  in  the 
earth,  and  mighty  men,  men  of  reuown ;  and  coupling  this 
with  the  succeeding  verse,  that  "  God  saw  that  the  wicked- 
ness of  man  was  great  in  the  earth,"  we  shall  not  be  far 
wrong  in  conceiving  these  men  to  have  been  lawless  aud 
reckless,  having  neither  the  fear  of  God  nor  of  man  before 
their  eyes.  And  when  to  these  is  added  the  conclusion  to 
which  a  survey  of  the  world  brought  a  gracious  and  long- 
suffering  God,  "And  it  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had 
made  man  on  the  earth,  and  it  grieved  him  at  his  heart. 
And  the  Lord  said,  I  will  destroy  man  whom  I  have  cre- 
ated from  the  face  of  the  earth : "  2  we  may  fairly  conclude 
that  it  was  full  of  the  most  hardened  infidelity,  and  the 
most  abandoned  licentiousness.  Now  imagine  in  the  midst 
of  such  a  world  —  surrounded  by  such  giants  in  vice  and 
unbelief — a  single  individual  setting  his  face  against  this 
torrent  of  wickedness,  and  living  in  their  daily  intercourse 
a  peculiar  life  of  belief,  and  setting  an  example  of  conduct 
which  was  a  constant  reproach  to  them.  And  when,  after 
denouncing  upon  them  the  indignation  and  wrath  of  God, 
he  commenced  building  an  enormous  vessel,  such  as  had 
never  been  seen  upon  the  earth  before,  —  building  it,  too,  at 
a  distance  from  any  water  which  could  ever  float  it,  —  their 
ridicule  upon  him  must  have  been  immeasurable.  And 
when  he  told  them  its  purpose  —  that  it  was  to  shelter  him 
and  his  family  and  the  beasts  of  the  earth  from  a  deluge 
which  was  to  sweep  off  all  living  things  —  how  they  must 
have  taunted  him,  as  year  after  year  rolled  away  and  no 
1  Gen.  vi.  3  2  Ibid.  vi.  6,  7. 


390 


These  all  died  in  Faith. 


clouds  gathered  wrath  over  them,  and  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  not  opened,  and  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep  were  not  broken  up,  and  they  were  permitted  to  revel 
on  in  sensuality  and  lust !  And  what  a  trial  of  his  own 
faith,  as  he  toiled  through  day  and  week  and  month  and 
year  upon  this  huge  structure,  while  yet  the  long-suffering 
of  God  endured  !  How  his  heart  —  for  he  was  just  such  a 
man  as  we  are  —  must  have  ofttimes  fainted  within  him,  as 
he  measured  the  toil  that  was  before  him,  and  writhed 
under  the  settled  reproach  of  all  his  fellow-creatures,  and 
saw  nothing  which  looked  like  any  change  in  Nature !  How 
often  must  he  have  felt  doubts  arise  within  himself,  and 
temptations  to  unbelief  assail  him,  and  weariness  in  well- 
doing steal  over  him!  How  he  must  gradually  have 
weaned  himself,  and  his,  from  all  attachment  to  the  earth, 
and  torn  his  heart  from  its  associations  with  places  and 
with  things, — the  pleasant  fields  of  the  young  earth  in 
which  he  had  labored;  the  home  of  his  love  and  of  his 
pride ;  the  green  pastures  in  which  he  had  fed  his  flocks, 
and  the  still  waters  beside  which  he  had  made  them  to 
repose :  and  looked  upon  them  all  as  doomed  to  an  impend- 
ing and  awful  destruction '  And  as  he  glanced  from  the 
firm  earth  on  which  he  stood,  from  its  rocks,  and  the 
strong  foundations  of  its  everlasting  hills,  to  the  Ark  in 
which  he  and  all  that  he  loved  were  to  be  embarked  upon  a 
tumultuous  sea — a  sea  of  wrath  and  of  destruction  —  the 
trial  of  his  manhood  must  have  been  sore  indeed  !  He  re- 
alized what  it  was  to  be  a  stranger  and  a  pilgrim  upon  the 
earth,  to  be  on  it  but  not  of  it,  a  traveller  without  a  home, 
a  resident  without  a  friend ! 

In  Abraham's  days  the  world  had  renewed  its  prosperity 
and  its  wickedness.  It  was  now  well  peopled  since  the 
Flood,  and  civilized  and  well-ordered  communities  —  com- 
munities abounding  in  wealth  and  in  power  —  had  over- 


These  all  died  in  Faith,  391 

spread  its  surface.  Among  its  countries,  none  was  more 
fertile,  none  more  lovely,  than  the  plains  of  Chaldea.  Lux- 
uriant grain  waved  its  golden  tresses  over  the  land,  and 
herds  and  flocks  innumerable  revelled  in  its  fatness.  The 
pastoral  life  —  the  pleasantest  upon  earth  in  a  land  of 
sunny  climes  and  watered  valleys  —  regulated  by  the  gentle 
rule  of  the  Patriarch  (such  a  life  as  Theocritus  loved  to 
paint),  was  that  which  diffused  comfort  and  happiness 
among  its  people.  Plenty  was  there ;  peace  was  there ;  love 
was  there.  Into  this  land  of  earthly  joy  came  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  and  summoned  from  its  pleasant  homes  a  single 
individual :  "  Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy 
kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house,  unto  a  land  that  I 
will  show  thee :  and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and 
I  will  bless  thee,  and  make  thy  name  great ;  and  in  thee 
shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  1  Every 
thing  present  was  to  be  abandoned.  The  ties  of  a  whole 
lifetime  were  to  be  rudely  snapped  asunder.  Country,  kin- 
dred, his  father's  house,  were  all  to  be  left  forever.  His 
wife,  and  his  household,  and  his  goods  were  all  to  be 
dragged  into  a  country  of  which  he  knew  nothing,  and 
there  were  they  to  dwell,  in  tents  and  in  tabernacles,  pil- 
grims in  every  sense  of  the  word,  strangers  among  a  peo- 
ple strange  in  manners,  strange  in  customs,  strange  in  lan- 
guage, strange  in  their  idolatry.  And  all  this  was  to  be 
done  openly  and  avowedly  upon  a  bare  promise  of  God,  to 
be  fulfilled  iu  the  distant  future.  No  language  can  describe 
it  more  forcibly  than  the  language  of  Scripture :  "By  faith 
Abraham,  when  he  was  called  to  go  out  into  a  place  which 
he  should  after  receive  for  an  inheritance,  obeyed  ;  and  he 
went  out,  not  knowing  whither  he  went.  By  faith  he  so- 
journed in  the  land  of  promise,  as  in  a  strange  country, 
dwelling  in  tabernacles  with  Isaac  and  Jacob,  the  heirs 

1  Gen.  xii.  1-3. 


392  These  all  died  in  Faith. 

with  him  of  the  same  promise :  " 1  and  we  can  imagine  the 
earnest  persuasions,  the  affectionate  entreaties,  the  sad 
forebodings,  the  dogged  unbelief,  with  which  his  intention 
was  received  by  the  kindred  and  the  companions  he  was 
leaving.  As  it  would  be  now,  so  was  it  then.  Just  as  the 
Missionary  spirit  is  sneered  at  and  ridiculed  now ;  just  as 
the  whole  unbelief  of  the  world  is  brought  to  bear  upon 
any  one  who  determines  to  give  up  country,  and  kindred, 
and  his  father's  house,  for  the  work  of  the  Lord  in  strange 
lands  :  so  was  it  when  Abraham  determined  to  abandon  all 
that  man  deemed  valuable  upon  earth,  and  confess  the  life 
of  a  pilgrim  and  a  stranger.  Instead  of  his  father's  house, 
he  was  henceforth  to  have  no  fixed  habitation,  wandering, 
as  the  Lord  commanded,  until  his  set  time  was  come.  In- 
stead of  fields  and  estates,  which  he  might  name  after  him- 
self, and  hand  down  to  his  posterity,  he  was  to  possess  not 
so  much  as  a  foot  of  earth  which  he  might  call  his  own. 
Instead  of  becoming  a  mighty  man  among  the  Chaldeans, 
surrounded  with  the  riches  of  his  time,  —  a  numerous  pos- 
terity, a  devoted  household,  a  band  of  bold  retainers,  —  he 
was  to  be  unknown  and  unnoticed,  fleeing  hither  and 
thither,  without  a  child  to  cheer  his  home  or  reassure  his 
faith,  yielding  up  every  thing — if  so  be  that  he  might  be 
obedient  to  the  Lord.  And  oh !  how  his  faith  must  have 
been  tried,  when  through  long  and  weary  years  he  saw  no 
sign  of  the  nation  that  was  to  issue  from  his  loins,  no  ap- 
proach to  the  possession  of  the  country  which  he  had  been 
called  to  inherit,  no  token  that  he  should  ever  become  a 
blessing  to  the  nations  !  And  when  we  follow  him  as  he 
traversed  the  country  to  which  the  Lord  had  called  him, 
weaned  from  all  earthly  ties,  bound  to  no  local  habitation, 
having  no  communion  with  the  idolatry  that  was  about 
him :  we  can  understand  that  he,  like  Noah,  was  a  pilgrim 
and  a  stranger  in  the  earth  ! 

i  Heb.  xi.  8,  9. 


These  all  died  in  Faith. 


393 


It  was  by  actions  like  these  that  Noah  and  Abraham  con- 
fessed themselves  to  be  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth. 
And  what  was  the  impelling  power?  What  was  strong 
enough  to  induce  them  to  despise  the  earth  and  earthly 
things,  and  to  separate  themselves  by  a  line  so  marked  from 
the  rest  of  the  world  ?  It  was  faith,  —  faith  of  the  high- 
est and  purest  kind ;  trust  in  the  word  of  God ;  belief 
that  what  He  said,  He  would  do ;  that  what  He  promised, 
He  would  perform.  They  had  nothing  else  to  go  upon. 
Sight  was  all  against  them.  The  appearances  of  things 
foreboded,  in  Noah's  case,  no  unusual  disaster  to  the  stable 
world ;  in  Abraham's  case,  no  likelihood  that  a  man  with- 
out a  child  should  ever  displace  by  his  posterity  the  na- 
tions of  Canaan,  or  become  a  blessing  to  the  world.  Ex- 
perience cried  out  against  it  with  her  utilitarian  voice,  for 
the  world  had  continued  as  it  was  from  the  foundation  of 
things.  It  was  simply  that  they  were  persuaded  of  these 
promises,  and  embraced  them,  because  God  had  made  them. 
They  knew  in  whom  they  trusted ;  and  were  satisfied  not 
only  to  live  by  faith,  but  to  die  in  faith  ! 

Living  by  faith,  my  hearers,  is  the  hardest  thing  which 
man  is  called  upon  to  do  :  but  to  die  in  faith  is  the  crowning 
glory  of  the  saint.  To  endure  through  a  whole  lifetime ; 
to  be  patient  unto  the  end  ;  never  to  faint  nor  grow  weary ; 
to  lose  no  confidence  by  the  way,  and,  when  the  end  comes, 
to  irust  in  an  unseen  God ;  to  believe  that  all  things  are 
working  for  your  good,  when  every  thing  seems  to  the  con- 
trary ;  to  commit  yourself  to  His  care,  who  is  at  the  very 
moment  permitting  Death  to  overcome  you  :  these  are  tri- 
umphs which  place  the  Christian  in  the  roll  of  spiritual 
fame  !  And  this  was  what  these  men  achieved.  They  all 
died  in  faith,  and  by  this  declared  plainly  that  they  sought  a 
country.  Theirs  was  not  a  faith  which  expected  any  re- 
wards here,  —  which  hoped,  when  it  had  been  tried,  that  it 


394  These  all  died  in  Faith. 

would  be  permitted  to  enjoy  its  recompense  in  this  world. 
They  died  in  it,  confessing  that  they  looked  for  nothing 
upon  earth,  but  that  they  trusted  in  God  for  that  rest  which 
remaineth  for  His  people.  It  is  a  beautiful  expression,  full 
of  deepest  meaning,  conveying  the  idea  of  martyrdom  for 
the  sake  of  divine  truth.  A  man  may  be  a  martyr,  who 
never  sees  the  stake,  —  a  martyr  in  the  crucifixion  of  his 
natural  passions ;  a  martyr  through  a  casting  down  of  high 
imaginations ;  a  martyr  in  bearing,  unto  death,  reproach 
and  contempt.  Fire  is  not  the  cruellest  instrument  of 
man's  torture  :  a  daily  humiliation  is  keener  anguish  to 
a  high-toned  spirit;  a  life  long-struggle  with  unbelief,  a 
heavier  cross  to  a  faithful  soul.  And  then  this  glorious 
consummation,  "  These  all  died  in  faith,"  conjures  up,  be- 
yond the  grave,  that  hope  which  never  dies,  that  country 
where  there  is  no  curse,  that  inheritance  incorruptible,  un- 
dented, and  which  fadeth  not  away.  So  long  as  they  were 
only  living  by  faith,  they  might  have  returned  to  that  coun- 
try whence  they  came  out ;  but  when  it  could  be  said  that 
they  died  in  faith,  the  fight  was  fought,  the  victory  won  ! 

And  now,  my  beloved  hearers,  how  many  of  us  are  living 
this  life  of  faith  ?  How  many  of  us  are  acting  as  though 
we  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  upon  earth,  and  confessing 
it  before  men?  The  command  may  not  have  been  laid 
upon  us  to  manifest  our  faith  in  the  same  striking  way  as 
it  was  exhibited  by  these  Patriarchs,  but  the  Apostles  of 
our  Lord  have  told  us,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  we  must  be  a  peculiar  people,  and  in  that  pecul- 
iarity is  to  consist  our  confession.  And  by  this  peculiarity 
is  not  meant  eccentricity,  or  rudeness,  or  moroseness,  or 
singularity  in  dress  or  voice,  or  any  thing  of  that  outward 
sort :  but  a  Christian  firmness  in  opinion,  and  feeling,  and 
conduct,  towards  man  and  God.  God  has  spoken  to  us  as 
plainly  as  He  spoke  to  Noah  and  Abraham  5  for  they  saw  not 


These  all  died  in  Faith. 


395 


His  form,  but  only  heard  a  voice :  and  He  has  instructed 
us  how  to  live,  in  view  of  His  purposes  for  the  present  and 
for  the  future.  He  has  warned  us  against  setting  our  af- 
fections upon  the  things  of  this  world,  and  commanded  us 
to  fix  them  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 
He  has  prayed  for  us  to  His  Father,  that,  while  we  should 
not  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  we  should  be  kept  from  the 
evil.  It  is  this  being  kept  from  the  evil  which  is  to  be  our 
peculiarity,  —  the  evil  of  a  worldly  life,  the  evil  of  covet- 
ousness,  the  evil  of  ambition,  the  evil  of  following  a  multi- 
tude into  sin,  the  evil  of  being  and  doing  as  others  because 
it  is  the  custom,  or  fashion,  or  the  popular  whim,  of  the 
moment.  And  while  we  are  not  called  upon  to  be  offensive 
in  our  language  or  harsh  in  our  conduct,  it  is  our  bounden 
duty  to  confess  our  own  Christian  life  before  the  world ;  to 
act  as  becomes  us ;  and  to  say,  if  need  be,  that  we  so  act 
because  we  are  Christians.  Noah  is  called,  in  the  Second 
Epistle  of  S.  Peter,  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  although 
we  have  no  evidence  that  he  went  about  exhorting  and 
warning  the  world  before  the  flood.  He  preached  by  his 
actions.  The  building  of  the  ark  was  his  sermon ;  and  by 
it  he  condemned  the  world.  It  was  the  exhibition  of  his 
faith,  and  their  unbelief.  And  so  to-day  ;  every  truly  con- 
sistent Christian  is  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  and  is  a 
condemnation  to  all  who  live  ungodly.  He  may  not  say  a 
word,  —  he  may  not  utter  a  rebuke  or  a  reproach  :  but  his 
life  is  a  standing  rebuke,  being  his  confession  that  he  is  a 
pilgrim  and  a  stranger,  —  in  the  world,  but  not  of  the  world. 

But  we  must  not  only  live  by  faith:  we  must  die  in 
faith.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  begin  to  run  well ;  we  must 
persevere  unto  the  end  !  "  0  foolish  Galatians,"  was  the 
expression  of  the  Apostle,  when  he  found  that  they  had 
been  tempted  to  turn  away  from  their  faith  in  Jesus,  —  the 
faith  in  which  they  had  first  walked,  — "  who  hath  be- 


396 


These  all  died  in  Faith. 


'  witched  you  ?  V 1  What  folly  is  this,  that  when  you  have 
•  been  taught  of  God,  you  should  turn  again  to  the  beggarly 
elements  of  the  world  ?  Is  this  folly  the  folly  of  any  of 
you  ?  Having  begun  in  the  Spirit,  are  ye  going  to  end  in 
the  flesh  ?  Your  faith  will  avail  you  nothing,  except  you 
die  in  it.  "  These  all  died  in  faith  :  "  that  was  their  praise. 
They  not  only  performed  some  splendid  act  of  faith,  but 
they  lived  day  by  day  through  temptation,  through  trial, 
through  care,  through  reproach,  through  ridicule,  and 
never  faltered.  Let  this  be  our  example.  Let  us,  like 
them,  live  upon  the  promises,  and  steer  by  faith  a  steady 
course, 

"  Through  ruffling  storms  and  swelling  seas, 
O'ercome  the  world,  keep  down  our  fear, 
And  still  possess  our  souls  in  peace." 

1860-3. 

Gal.  iii.  1. 


C^ttt^jstjrtt)  Sermon* 


Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.  Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord, 
have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ?  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out 
devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ?  And  then 
will  L profess  unto  them,  L  never  knew  you :  depart  from  me,  ye  that 
work  iniquity.  —  S.  Matthew  vii.  21-23. 

rjlHE  judgment  of  God  upon  our  daily  life,  and  upon  that 


character  which  is  to  entitle  us  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  is  very  different  from  the  judgment  of  man.  In 
nothing  are  we  more  astonished  in  this  world,  than  in  the 
dealings  of  God  with  His  creatures ;  and  we  shall  he  still 
more  amazed,  when,  at  His  Judgment,  we  shall  hear  Him 
unmask  hypocrisy,  and  expose  deceit,  and  strip  pretension 
bare,  and  bring  pride  and  presumption  to  the  dust.  Truth 
will  be  made  terrible  in  that  day,  and  many  of  man's  judg- 
ments will  be  dreadfully  reversed.  So  struck  was  S.  Paul 
with  this  certain  aspect  of  things,  that  he  said  :  "  There- 
fore judge  nothing  before  the  time,  until  the  Lord  come, 
who  both  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness, 
and  will  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts:  and 
then  shall  every  man  have  praise  of  God."1  It  is  these 
hidden  things  of  darkness  which  man  cannot  see,  and  these 
counsels  of  the  heart  into  which  he  cannot  pierce,  that 
make  all  the  difference  between  sincerity  and  untruth,  be- 
tween purity  and  iniquity,  between  man's  estimate  of  man 


1 1  Cor.  iv.  5. 


39S  Reality  in  Religion. 

and  God's  record  in  the  Book  of  Judgment.  We  can  judge 
only  by  the  appearance :  God  judges  by  the  reality ;  and 
it  is  reality  which  is  so  rare  and  precious.  Among  our- 
selves, we  value  it  above  every  thing.  When  we  find  it  in 
man  or  woman,  we  prize  it,  and  trust  to  it,  and  rest  upon  it 
as  upon  a  rock,  giving  it  various  names  according  to  its  use, 
but  all  running  into  and  concentrating  upon  that  one  word 
reality.  Sometimes  we  call  it  honesty,  sometimes  sincerity, 
sometimes  truthfulness,  sometimes  guilelessness,  sometimes 
simplicity ;  but  under  all  these  diverse  appellations  we  value 
the  thing,  as  something  the  opposite  of  man's  general 
characteristics,  and  as  higher  than  the  tone  of  the  world. 
We  do  not  always  admire  the  persons  in  whom  this  reality 
is  found,  for  it  puts  to  shame  very  often  our  own  artificial- 
ness,  and  uncovers  by  its  frankness  our  own  insincerity  : 
but  we  nevertheless  value  it,  and  turn  to  it  in  the  day  of 
trouble,  and  find  in  it  the  counsel  which  we  need,  and 
the  support  which  will  sustain  us.  No  quality  in  man  or 
woman  grows  so  much  as  this  of  reality ;  and,  however  un- 
popular it  may  make  its  possessor  at  the  first,  it  ends  in 
placing  him  high  iu  the  esteem  of  all  good  and  virtuous 
people.  And  as  with  man,  so  with  God.  That  which  we 
value  in  the  experience  and  working  of  life,  and  which  we 
ultimately  find  to  be  a  necessity  for  us,  God  values  above  all 
things ;  and  reckons  it  as  the  test  of  profession,  and  the 
touchstone  of  words  and  of  actions.  We  cannot  put  Him 
off  with  outward  show,  with  boisterous  words,  with  long- 
faced  pretensions.  He  is  beyond  all  that;  and  while  He 
often  permits  it  to  prosper  in  this  world,  for  His  own  wise 
purposes,  it  never  passes  beyond  the  grave,  except  to  be 
exposed  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  and  to  be  sent  to  its  own 
place  with  scorn  and  everlasting  contempt. 

Not  only  to  us,  who  openly  profess  Christianity,  is  the 
rule  of  God's  judgment  most  important,  but  also  to  every 


Reality  in  Religion.  399 

man  who  expects  to  be  held  accountable  in  the  future.  It 
is  the  rule  of  common  sense,  —  a  rule  piercing*  down  into 
the  motives  and  counsels  of  the  heart,  and  touching  the 
very  bottom  of  every  thing1  which  it  pretends  to  judge.  It 
commends  itself  to  the  approval  of  every  man  of  right  feel- 
ing, whether  he  may  expect  to  be  judged  according  to  the 
principles  of  Christianity,  or  according  to  some  criterion 
of  his  own,  independent  of  revelation.  If  he  be  a  true 
man,  what  he  would  ask  for  would  be  honest  judgment,  — 
judgment  getting  at  the  truth  of  every  thing.  And  we 
will  perceive,  by  examining  our  text,  that  such  is  its  pur- 
port,—  that  it  puts  aside  everything  of  mere  outside  show; 
and  that  nothing  can  stand  before  it,  but  what  is  capable 
of  bearing  the  scrutiny  of  an  Eye  that  cannot  be  deceived, 
and  of  a  Judgment  that  cannot  be  perverted.  Any  man 
who  is  prepared  for  this  judgment  must  approve  it :  for  it 
separates  truth  from  falsehood,  pretension  from  reality, 
with  a  sternness  which  none  can  seduce,  and  with  a  justice 
which  cannot  be  gainsaid. 

Our  text  brings  under  consideration  two  classes  of  pro- 
fessors, which  comprise  nearly  all  of  those  who  presume 
upon  that  title  :  those  who  profess  loudly,  and  do  not  the 
works  of  God  ;  and  those  who  do  many  things  in  the  Name 
of  Jesus,  and  yet  have  not  the  spirit  and  mind  of  Him 
whom  they  pretend  to  serve. 

Christianity,  as  expounded  to  us  in  the  New  Testament 
and  in  the  life  and  character  of  Christ,  is  made  up  of  a 
mixture  of  feeling  and  of  action.  If  the  one  exists  with- 
out the  other,  the  harmony  is  not  complete ;  and  the  judg- 
ment of  Christ  will  bear  hard  upon  the  character.  And  we 
see  this  lack  of  harmony  exemplified  everywhere  in  the 
Christian  Church,  making  us  tremble  for  those  we  love, 
when  they  shall  come  to  stand  at  that  bar  of  final  Judg- 
ment. Let  us  to-day  look  into  this  matter,  and  see  whether 


400  Reality  in  Religion. 

a  judgment  made  here  on  earth,  and  in  the  Church,  may 
not  arouse  our  living,  active  Christians,  and  prepare  them 
for  that  final  Judgment  in  which  there  is  no  reversal,  and 
from  which  there  is  no  escape. 

"  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  This  is  the  first 
rule  of  judgment,  which  comes  out  of  our  text,  and  takes 
to  pieces  a  great  many  professors  of  religion,  analyzing 
them  and  stripping  off  that  in  which  they  are  trusting. 

They  are  crying,  "  Lord,  Lord ;  "  they  are  making  an 
open  show  of  their  devotion  to  the  service  of  the  Lord; 
they  are  attending  upon  the  services  of  the  Church ;  they 
are  communing  at  the  Lord's  Table ;  their  names  stand 
upon  the  Church's  record  :  but  what  are  they  doing  for 
Christ  ?  All  these  Church  observances  are  to  benefit  them- 
selves. But  besides  this  aspect  of  Christianity,  there  is 
another.  There  is  a  side  which  turns  away  from  self,  and 
looks  toward  God,  —  to  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ,  to  the  edification  of  His  Church  upon  earth,  to 
the  vindication  of  His  Name  and  glory,  to  the  doing  of 
what  is  called  in  my  text  the  will  of  the  Father  which  is  in 
Heaven.  They  are  fulfilling  the  one  side  of  the  requisition 
of  judgment,  —  crying  "  Lord,  Lord  :  "  but  are  they  fulfill- 
ing the  other  side  ?  This  is  the  question  to  be  settled,  and 
therefore  the  question  to  be  examined.  We  will  do  it 
plainly  and  fearlessly,  and  each  one's  conscience  must  an- 
swer for  itself. 

There  is  nothing  more  common  in  the  Church  than  an 
empty  profession,  —  a  profession  that  begins  and  ends  in 
talk.  And  this  takes  shape  according  to  the  forms  of  re- 
ligion in  which  they  may  have  been  bred  and  trained. 
With  those  in  whose  practical  systems  there  is  much  excite- 
ment, it  develops  itself  in  a  great  parade  of  religious  feel- 


Reality  in  Religion.  401 

ing,  and  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  frames  and  affections ; 
but  disappears  when  they  are  called  upon  to  put  their  hands 
in  their  pockets,  and  advance  the  kingdom  of  Christ  upon 
earth.  They  will  attend  any  number  of  services ;  do  any 
amount  of  religious  exercises ;  talk,  and  groan,  and  shout : 
at  the  same  time  that  they  are  worshipping  God  in  build- 
ings in  which  they  would  be  ashamed  to  live  themselves ; 
are  starving  His  ministers,  and  are  utterly  refusing  to  con- 
tribute any  thing  to  the  Missionary  cause.  With  others 
again,  of  a  more  quiet  stamp,  there  is  an  exterior  sanctity 
that  is  truly  edifying ;  a  carrying  of  religion  everywhere 
upon  their  persons  and  their  faces ;  a  loud  talking  about 
philanthropy,  and  human  progress :  but,  accompanying  it, 
a  very  careful  observance  of  their  own  interests,  and  not 
much  scruple  about  the  nicety  of  morals  which  may  regu- 
late their  conduct.  Again,  there  are  those  brought  up 
under  still  quieter  systems,  who  simply  consider  themselves 
as  doing  their  duty  when  they  condescend  to  worship  God 
at  all ;  and  suppose  that  their  acknowledgment  of  Him  be- 
fore the  world,  —  their  crying,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  —  will  be 
quite  enough  for  their  future  welfare.  They  do  not  any 
thing  which  offends  society,  or  defrauds  man,  or  disgraces 
the  Church :  they  simply  do  nothing  for  God ;  nothing  for 
Christ ;  nothing  for  the  advancement  of  Christianity.  If 
it  depended  upon  them,  the  Church  would  make  no  progress 
at  all.  They  sustain  it,  for  themselves ;  but  care  not  for 
its  extension  to  anybody  else.  They  have  none  of  the  feel- 
ing which  actuated  the  early  Christians,  who,  for  Christ's 
sake,  sold  their  possessions,  and  laid  the  price  at  the  Apos- 
tles' feet,  and  lived  in  common  with  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
All  these  classes  of  Christians,  no  matter  how  diversely  the 
effect  shows  itself,  are  under  the  same  delusion,  imagining 
that  the  mere  cry  of  "  Lord,  Lord,"  will  answer  the  requi- 
sitions of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  —  the  requisitions  of  that 

26 


402  Reality  in  Religion. 

Gospel  which  demands  self-denial,  self-devotion,  alms- 
giving, and  above  all  the  Missionary  spirit,  to  make  it  at  all 
responsive  to  the  will  of  the  Father.  And  yet  how  many 
go  on  just  in  this  manner,  never  once  enquiring  what  is  the 
will  of  that  Father,  or  what  duties  and  responsibilities  be- 
long to  them  as  Christians  !  If  they  can  save  themselves, 
it  is  all  that  they  care  for :  thus  proving  that  selfishness,  to 
which  the  Christian  spirit  is  most  diametrically  opposed,  is 
ruling  over  them.  What  a  Christian  is  to  look  to  in  being 
a  Christian,  is,  that  he  should  no  longer  work  his  own  will 
upon  earth,  but  the  will  of  the  Father,  whose  love  it  is  that 
has  led  to  his  redemption  through  the  Sacrifice  of  His  Son. 
If  that  is  not  considered,  there  can  be  no  Christianity  in 
the  matter.  If,  when  considered,  it  is  not  followed,  there 
can  be  no  hope  of  any  place  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 
And  that  will  is  so  clearly  marked  out  in  the  Mission  of 
His  Son,  that  every  one  that  runneth  may  read.  Even  as 
early  as  Isaiah,  the  Divine  Mission  of  the  Saviour  was 
pointed  out,  that  Mission  of  which  He  said :  "I  seek  not 
mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  which  hath  sent 
me." 1  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me  ;  because 
the  Lord  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto 
the  meek ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted  ; 
....  to  appoint  unto  them  that  mourn  in  Zion,  to  give 
unto  them  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning, 
the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness."  2  And 
what  was  the  will  of  the  Father  as  manifested  in  the  Son, 
is  the  will  of  the  Father  as  manifested  in  the  disciples :  for 
"  every  one  that  is  perfect  shall  be  as  his  master."  3  How 
can  any  one,  who  studies  the  life  of  Christ,  expect  to  attain 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  without  treading  somewhat,  at 
least,  in  His  footsteps?  Believe  me,  there  never  was  a 
truer  line  in  the  Gospel  than  that  uttered  in  my  text : 

1  S.  John  v.  30.  2  Isaiah  lxi.  1,  3.  3  S.  Luke  vi.  40. 


Reality  in  Religion.  403 

cc  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will 
of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 

Let  us  pause  at  this  point,  and  consider  the  position : 
"  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Who  then  shall  enter  it  ? 
No  one  but  "  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is 
in  heaven."  The  question,  then,  meets  every  one  of  us, 
full  in  the  face  :  "  Am  I  doing  that  will  ?  "  I  know  that 
I  am  doing  a  part  of  it,  in  having  become  a  professor  of 
religion ;  in  having  made  a  public  acknowledgment  of  His 
Name ;  in  having  enrolled  myself  among  His  servants  and 
soldiers.  So  far,  well !  But  am  I  now  doing  any  thing,  as 
a  servant  and  a  soldier  ?  Mere  engaging  to  serve  does  not 
make  a  good  and  faithful  servant ;  mere  enrolling  as  a  sol- 
dier does  not  entitle  one  to  honor  or  reward.  The  servant, 
to  be  faithful,  must  do  the  will  of  his  master.  The  soldier, 
to  deserve  the  name,  must  fight  his  master's  battles,  and 
strive  against  his  Lord's  enemies.  Inaction  will  do  in 
neither.  And  so  with  the  Christian.  He  must  show  his 
service ;  his  record  must  be  clear  of  supineness  and  indif- 
ference ;  the  scars  of  honorable  battle  must  show  them- 
selves upon  his  person.  Are  these  things  so  with  us,  my 
fellow  Christians  ?  Think  well ;  examine  yourselves ; 
reckon  up  what  you  have  done  for  God,  in  return  for  what 
He  has  done  for  you;  consider  in  what  respect  you  have 
advanced  Christ's  Kingdom  upon  earth.  Upon  your  treat- 
ment of  this  subject  may  depend  your  title  to  Heaven  ;  for 
"  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,"  shall 
enter  that  Kingdom ! 

But  our  text  does  not  stop  here.  It  goes  very  much  fur- 
ther, and  arraigns  another  class  of  Christians,  who  seem  to 
stand  upon  a  much  higher  ground  than  the  inactive  drones 
we  have  been  considering :  "  Many  will  say  to  me  in  that 


404  Reality  in  Religion. 

day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ?  and 
in  thy  name  have  east  out  devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done 
many  wonderful  works  ?  "  High  pretensions,  you  perceive ; 
practising  not  only  the  ordinary  duties  of  Christ's  proph- 
ets, but  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  what  would  seem  to  pro- 
ceed from  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  and  pleading  these  things  as 
if  they  had  done  them  in  good  faith,  themselves  believing 
them  to  be  acceptable  with  God  ;  —  doing  them  in  Christ's 
Name,  and  under  His  banner.  And  yet,  what  is  the  awful 
reply  ?  "  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew 
you :  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity." 

And  what  is  very  striking  in  this  passage  is,  that 
"  many  "  will  speak  these  words  to  Christ.  It  will  not  be 
one  here  and  there,  but  many :  as  if  such  false  prophets 
should  abound ;  men  deceived  and  deceiving ;  blinded  by 
the  spirit  of  evil,  and  blinding  others.  It  is  a  very  dread- 
ful view  of  things ;  and  yet  one  that  we  can  very  well 
understand !  The  world  abounds  with  such  now.  Society 
is  pestered  with  them ;  the  Church  is  hindered  in  her  work 
by  them ;  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  is  impeded  in  its  progress. 
But  for  these,  and  the  Gospel  would  have  free  course  and 
be  glorified.  But  such  as  these  are  what  Christ  calls  them : 
"  workers  of  iniquity ;  "  —  men  who  have  used  His  Name, 
but  have  never  known  His  Spirit :  who  have  abused  His 
Name,  speaking  lies  and  hypocrisy.  And  yet,  by  such  are 
men  deceived :  good  men,  sober  men,  worldly-wise  men ; 
men  with  a  Book  in  their  hands  which  confutes  all  their 
teachings ;  with  the  life  of  Christ  before  their  eyes,  which 
dazzles  with  its  brightness  and  majesty  all  their  falsehood. 
Sad  illustration  of  the  corruption  of  the  Fall,  —  that  good 
can  be  so  easily  perverted,  and  the  aliment  of  the  soul  be 
changed  into  destructive  poison ! 

How  watchful  does  this  sentence  of  Christ  call  upon 
us  to  be,  over  ourselves !    Which  of  us  is  the  true  ser- 


Reality  in  Religion.  405 

vant  of  Christ  ?  Who  amongst  us  is  illustrating  the 
spirit  of  the  Gospel?  is  living  with  God  the  true  life  of 
Christianity?  We  are  all  professing  :  which  of  us  is  work- 
ing up  to  our  duty  and  our  responsibility;  working,  I 
mean,  in  the  Spirit  and  with  the  Mind  of  Christ?  The 
world  is  rushing  on  around  us,  and  I  fear  that  it  has  the 
most  of  our  thoughts  and  feelings.  Life  is  vanishing  like  a 
dream ;  and  those  we  love  are  perishing,  one  after  another : 
and  yet  we  seem  to  forget  that  Judgment  seat,  at  which 
the  very  broadest  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  those 
who  cry  "  Lord,  Lord,"  and  those  who  do  the  will  of  their 
Father  in  Heaven.  How  few  can  tell  what  that  will  is  ; 
and  how  much  fewer  really  know  what  it  is  !  Christ  our 
Lord  came  to-  do  that  will :  and  you  see  what  His  life  was. 
The  will  of  God  is  the  same  to  us,  as  it  was  to  Him,  how- 
ever different  the  acts  required  of  us  may  be.  His  will  is 
the  salvation  of  lost  man,  is  the  making  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  to  become  the  kingdoms  of  Christ ;  is  that  the 
Church  should  shine  as  a  light  in  the  darkness,  filling  the 
earth  with  joy  and  peace  and  comfort.  Our  Saviour  shed 
His  Blood  to  work  out  those  results,  —  gave  Himself  a  sac- 
rifice that  He  might  "  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  peo- 
ple, zealous  of  good  works."1  We  are  not  called  upon  to 
shed  our  blood,  perhaps:  but  we  are  called  upon  to  be  a 
part  of  that  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works,  who  are 
by  those  works  to  help  to  bring  in  the  glorious  Kingdom  of 
Christ.  Are  we  doing  it?  Are  we  at  work  about  it?  Or 
are  we  satisfied  with  receiving  the  blessings  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  Gospel,  without  making  any  effort  to  extend 
them  to  others  ?  These  are  grave  questions,  and  we  should 
answer  them  to  our  consciences.  Are  we  not  getting  weary 
in  well  doing?  are  not  the  sadness  and  depression  of  the 
times  operating  upon  our  Christian  characters,  and  making 

1  Titus  ii.  14 


406  Reality  in  Religion. 

us  listless,  and  careless,  and  indifferent !  The  dealings  of 
God  with  us  are  sent  to  try  our  faith,  to  enlarge  our  charity, 
to  purify  our  purposes :  and  not  to  paralyze  our  Christian 
efforts.  By  showing  us  the  vanity  of  earthly  affairs,  His 
purpose  is  to  fix  our  affections  upon  heavenly  things,  and 
make  us  more  earnest  in  their  advancement.  By  showing 
us  how  little  dependence  we  can  place  on  man,  or  on  soci- 
ety, His  aim  is  to  turn  our  thoughts  more  singly  to  that 
Kingdom,  which  shall  never  end ;  to  that  home,  eternal  in 
the  Heavens,  from  which  is  banished  all  change  and  all  dis- 
appointment. We  misuse  adversity,  unless  we  turn  it  to 
spiritual  account,  and  use  it  for  a  blessing  to  ourselves  and 
to  others. 

The  great  moral  lesson,  however,  which  the  words  of  my 
text  teach  us,  is,  that  we  shall  be  judged  and  dealt  with  for 
exactly  what  we  are,  and  not  for  what  we  seem  to  be.  We 
ourselves  are  conscious  of  many  sins  and  infirmities,  of 
which  the  world  knows  nothing ;  of  many  omissions  of 
duty,  of  which  our  dearest  relations  are  ignorant ;  of  many 
shortcomings,  which  would  be  looked  upon  as  guilt  only  by 
an  all-holy  God :  of  how  many  more  must  an  all-seeing 
God  be  conscious,  when  He  searcheth  the  hearts  and  trieth 
the  reins  of  the  children  of  men  !  All  these  things  will  He 
bring  unto  judgment,  —  our  secret  thoughts,  our  hidden  de- 
sires, our  coldness  in  prayer,  our  lukewarmness  in  service, 
our  self-indulgence  :  and  the  appearance  which  we  wore  to 
the  people  around  us,  will  be  as  nothing  in  His  eyes.  Re- 
ality, truth,  will  then  come  to  the  surface.  Our  Christian 
graces  will  then  be  weighed.  Our  faith  in  the  efficacy  of 
the  Blood  of  Christ,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
overcome  sin  and  to  bring  man  to  repentance,  will  be  ex- 
hibited to  all,  especially  to  ourselves.  Our  self-denial  for 
the  good  of  others,  our  willingness  to  endure  hardship 
for  Christ's  sake,  our  rejection  of  the  allurements  of  ease 


Reality  i7i  Religion.  407 

and  indulgence,  will  be  cast  into  the  balances,  and  be  rai- 
ned at  their  true  worth.  Our  charity  for  the  infirmities  of 
others,  our  long  suffering  for  injuries  received,  our  kind- 
ness to  those  who  are  in  error,  our  efforts  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  fallen,  will  all  receive  their  real  estimate,  and 
will  be  brought  home  to  our  confusion  in  that  day  of  awful 
account.  There  will  be  no  deception  there,  no  glossing 
over  of  false  and  artificial  pretension.  Xo  prophetical  of- 
fice will  screen  us  in  that  day ;  no  wonder-workiug  acts  at 
which  men  hare  gazed  in  amazement  and  at  which  devils 
have  laughed,  will  cause  any  deviation  from  the  straight 
line  of  justice.  Every  one  of  us,  no  matter  what  our  posi- 
tions in  life,  what  our  pretensions  as  Christians,  will  be 
stripped  of  every  thing  false,  and  be  judged  according  to 
the  inexorable  rule  of  right  and  wrong.  God  grant  that 
we  may  not  hear  the  terrible  words  which  "  many  ;?  are  to 
hear:  "I  never  knew  you:  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work 
iniquity."' 

We  have,  my  beloved  hearers,  but  one  Refuge,  —  the  love 
and  mercy  of  Christ.  TVe  can  hide  ourselves  in  Him,  and 
He  will  be  our  hiding-place  in  the  tempest.  His  Blood  can 
atone  for  ail  our  sins  ;  His  righteousness  can  cover  all  our 
unholiness.  In  Him  can  we  find  wisdom,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  sanctification,  and  redemption.  Remember  that 
it  is  what  we  are,  and  not  what  we  do,  that  is  to  be  the 
question.  And  while  it  is  a  terrible  ordeal,  this  reduction 
to  stem  reality,  it  is  likewise,  if  properly  understood,  a  won- 
drous comfort.  To  know  that  God  will  judge  us,  not  by 
our  feeble  efforts,  not  by  our  limited  performances,  not  ac- 
cording to  our  manifold  infirmities  ;  but  by  what  He  can 
see,  —  our  love  for  Him,  our  devotion  to  Christ,  our  earnest 
desire  for  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom  of  grace  :  is 
indeed  a  solace  past  all  reckoning !  Let  us  cling  to  that, 
and  we  shall  be  saved.    Let  us  say  with  S.  Paul,  "  By  the 


408  Reality  in  Religion. 

grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am:"1  and  if  we  can  say  it 
sincerely,  in  the  consciousness  that  we  have  trusted  to  that 
grace,  and  cherished  it  in  our  hearts,  and  rested  upon  it  in 
faith  and  hope,  we  shall  never  hear  the  words :  "  I  never 
knew  you  :  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity." 

1866. 

1 1  Cor.  xv.  10. 


Zl)ivtp$ttont\)  Sermon, 


Then  said  one  unto  him,  Lord,  are  there  few  that  be  saved  1  And 
he  said  unto  them,  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate :  for  many,  I 
say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able.  —  S.  Luke 
xiii.  23,  24. 

HPHROUGH  all  the  intercourse  which  our  Lord  held  with 


His  followers,  it  was  His  persistent  aim  to  turn  their 
thoughts  in  upon  themselves.  He  never  gave  the  smallest 
encouragement  to  any  thing  like  inquisitiveness  into  secret 
things,  or  to  speculations  which  did  not  concern  their  per- 
sonal salvation.  Life  was  too  short,  and  the  work  of  relig- 
ion upon  the  heart  too  solemn,  for  any  time  to  be  wasted  in 
mere  questioning.  If  an  enquiry  looked  to  practical  per- 
sonal religion,  nobody  was  more  prompt  to  explain,  to  sat- 
isfy, to  guide,  to  bless  :  but  if  it  was  asked  merely  for  the 
gratification  of  an  idle  curiosity,  or  the  feeling  of  a  pruri- 
ent fancy,  it  was  at  once  turned  upon  the  enquirer,  and 
changed  into  a  lesson  of  truth  for  all  time  to  come.  Wit- 
ness His  reply  to  those,  who  told  Him  of  the  Galileans 
whose  blood  Pilate  had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices,  with 
the  evident  desire  of  drawing  out  His  opinion  respecting 
the  degree  of  their  sinfulness.  "  Suppose  ye  that  these 
Galileans  were  sinners  above  all  the  Galileans,  because  they 
suffered  such  things  '?  I  tell  you,  Xay  ;  but  except  ye  re- 
pent, ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 1  Witness  His  answer  to 
S.  Peter,  when  he  asked  Him  of  John's  future  career :  "  If 
I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  '?  Fol- 
low thou  me."  2    And  in  our  text  we  perceive  the  like  un- 


1  S.  Luke  xiii.  2,  3. 


2  S.  John  xxi.  22. 


410  Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved? 

willingness  on  the  part  of  Christ  to  answer  a  question 
which  could  lead  to  no  practical  result.  "  Lord,  are  there 
few  that  he  saved?  And  he  said  unto  them,  Strive  to 
enter  in  at  the  strait  gate :  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  will 
seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  he  able." 

An  awful  question,  my  hearers :  and  a  still  more  awful 
answer  !  The  question  involving  that  which  is  most  truly 
important  to  a  responsible  creature :  the  answer  implying 
difficulty  at  every  point  of  man's  efforts.  The  question  ren- 
dering one  almost  breathless  with  anxiety  to  hear  the  reply 
of  such  a  Being  as  Christ:  the  answer  making  him  feel 
that,  while  it  is  evaded,  enough  of  light  is  thrown  upon  it 
to  render  every  man  certain  that  he  must  work  out  his  sal- 
vation with  fear  and  trembling.  If  the  gate  be  strait,  — 
that  is,  narrow :  if  strenuous  effort  be  necessary  to  pass 
through  it  into  life  eternal ;  if  many  shall  seek  to  enter  in, 
and  shall  not  be  able :  well  may  every  man  feel  that  the 
mere  cry  of  "  Lord,  Lord,"  will  not  be  sufficient  in  that 
hour  of  necessity,  and  that  he  must  begin,  betimes,  to  pre- 
pare himself  for  that  hour  when  the  question  of  admission 
or  exclusion  is  to  be  finally  settled. 

Our  Lord  answered  this  question,  as  He  did  every  other, 
in  the  very  wisest  manner.  It  is  really  of  not  the  least 
practical  importance  to  us  whether  many  or  few  are  to  be 
saved ;  and  yet  if  our  Saviour  had  answered  it  either  way, 
it  might  have  worked  very  evil  effects  upon  men.  Had  He 
said  that  but  few  were  to  be  saved :  despair  might  have 
taken  the  place  of  hope,  and  men  might  have  run  into  "  des- 
peration, or  into  wretchlessness  of  most  unclean  living."  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  He  had  opened  the  door  to  every  one  who 
claimed  to  enter,  a  flood  of  carelessness  and  ungodliness 
might  have  rushed  in  upon  the  Church.  His  answer  was 
liable  to  neither  objection.  It  left  the  question  unsettled, 
—  except  in  this,  that  personal  effort  would  be  necessary 


Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved?  411 

for  each  man's  own  salvation  ;  —  that  whether  many  or  few 
were  to  be  saved,  no  one  need  expect  it  in  his  own  individ- 
ual case,  who  did  not  strive  after  it  earnestly  and  sincerely. 

How  continually  do  we  see  persons  trifling  away  their 
precious  time  upon  questions  just  as  unimportant  as  this 
one  of  the  disciples  !  Instead  of  looking  their  own  salva- 
tion directly  in  the  face,  and  being  in  earnest  about  it,  they 
are  worrying  themselves  about  points,  which,  even  if  they 
could  be  settled,  would  have  no  bearing  at  all  upon  their 
individual  condition.  Of  what  importance  is  the  question 
which  is  so  often  made  about  the  origin  of  evil  ?  We  know 
every  thing  that  is  important  to  us.  We  are  satisfied  that 
moral  evil  does  exist ;  that  it  has  spread  through  the  world, 
and  corrupted  human  nature  ;  that  its  poison  is  circulating 
in  our  veins ;  and  that,  unless  an  antidote  can  be  provided 
against  it,  we  must  perish.  Suppose  under  these  circum- 
stances that  it  could  be  determined  what  was  the  origin  of 
evil,  of  what  advantage  should  it  be  to  us  ?  Should  it 
help  our  individual  case  at  all  ?  Should  it  render  our  duty 
any  the  more  imperative,  or  our  work  any  the  more  easy  ? 
Should  we  not  have  the  same  strait  gate  to  enter ;  the  same 
conflicts  to  pass  through ;  the  same  necessity  for  earnest- 
ness and  vigor  ?  When  our  minds  had  been  satisfied  upon 
this  very  deep  question,  —  one  of  the  secret  things  which 
belong  to  God,  —  should  our  hearts  be  any  the  more  puri- 
fied ?  We  do  not  act  so  in  things  pertaining  to  our  phys- 
ical welfare.  When  I  am  smitten  by  a  sore  disease,  I  do 
not  say  that  I  will  use  none  of  the  remedies  which  are  pre- 
scribed for  me  until  I  can  be  satisfied  how  I  took  the  dis- 
ease, or  where  it  originated  ?  If  my  physician  was  imper- 
tinent enough  to  pause  over  such  questions  as  these,  I 
should  say  to  him,  "  For  mercy's  sake  cure  me  first,  and 
then  afterwards  you  may  discuss  such  matters  to  your 
heart's  content :  but  do  not  leave  me  to  perish,  while  you 


412  Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved? 

are  settling  a  matter  of  not  the  least  practical  importance." 
This  would  be  the  impulse  of  any  one  who  was  in  serious 
danger  from  disease ;  and  yet,  in  spiritual  matters,  in  the 
fearful  disease  which  perils  the  soul,  a  trifling  —  the  very 
reverse  of  this  earnestness  —  is  indulged  in.  Question 
after  question  is  started,  if  by  any  means  the  real,  practi- 
cal one  of  personal  salvation  may  be  avoided ;  — if  the 
probe  may  be  kept  from  the  seat  of  the  disease.  Such  a 
course  always  satisfies  me  that  there  is  no  real  earnestness, 
no  conviction  of  sin,  no  desire  for  a  change  of  things,  no 
faith  in  the  awful  matters  of  which  Christ  is  the  Centre  and 
the  Arbiter.  These  questions  are  started  merely  to  get  rid, 
in  a  polite  way,  of  any  thing  closer  or  more  personal ;  to 
evade,  if  possible,  the  struggle  which  has  to  be  entered 
upon,  the  moment  the  real  point  of  one's  own  salvation  is 
grappled  with. 

And  as  it  is  with  this  question  of  the  origin  of  evil,  so 
likewise  with  all  the  other  speculative  questions  which  may 
meet  us  as  we  approach  the  truly  earnest  one  of  our  own 
condition.  They  are  strewn  all  along;  meet  us  at  every 
point ;  are  suggested  at  the  most  critical  moments  of  our 
religious  life  ;  rise  up,  one  after  the  other,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Devil,  and  mock  us  every  step  we  take  towards 
salvation.  We  quell  one,  only  to  find  another  springing  up 
before  us ;  and  it  is  not  until  we  have  the  firmness  to  press 
forward  boldly,  that  they  vanish  from  our  path.  They  are 
like  the  grotesque  images  which  a  dim,  uncertain  twilight 
casts  upon  the  path  of  the  traveller.  Were  he  to  pause 
upon  his  journey  to  examine  each  one  of  them,  and  ascer- 
tain its  origin  and  its  insubstantialness :  darkness  should 
come  upon  him,  and  his  feet  should  stumble  on  the  dark 
mountains.  His  safety  consists  in  pressing  forward  for 
the  home  which  is  before  him,  looking  neither  to  the  right 
hand  nor  to  the  left :  trusting  that  the  path  of  duty  is  the 


Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved?  413 


path  of  safety,  and  that  the  lions  in  the  way  will  he  found 
either  chained  or  having  no  existence  save  in  the  play  of 
the  light  and  the  shadow. 

When  one  is  ready  to  leave  all  this  idle  questioning  and 
come  to  the  point,  the  real  distinction  which  will  he  found 
in  this  answer  of  our  Saviour  is,  that  many  "  seek,"'  while 
only  a  very  few  "  strive."  Our  Saviour  did  not  mean  to 
teach  that  any  who  really  strive,  should  not  be  able  to  enter  : 
hut  that  vast  multitudes  would  confound  a  listless  seeking. 
with  such  a  strife  as  is  necessary  for  finding  Christ.  Flatter 
ourselves  as  we  please,  Heaven  is  not  to  he  won  as  easily  as 
we  imagine.  Let  us  select  a  passage  here  and  there  from 
the  Bible,  and  in  that  way  come  to  an  understanding  of  what 
is  required  of  us  for  success  in  this  matter  of  salvation.  I 
will  take  a  few  verses  from  Proverbs,  to  begin  with,  and 
they  will  throw  some  light  upon  the  matter. 

"  My  son,"  says  Solomon,  "  if  thou  seekest  her  as  silver, 
and  searchest  for  her  as  for  hid  treasures ;  then  shalt  thou 
understand  the  fear  of  the  Loed,  and  find  the  knowledge 
of  God.'"' 1  Xow  mark  the  comparison,  and  then  bring  be- 
fore your  mind's  eye  men  seeking  for  silver  and  searching 
for  hid  treasures.  What  earnestness !  What  greediness ! 
What  unceasing  labor,  day  and  night !  What  indifference 
about  heat  or  cold,  about  hunger  or  thirst  ?  What  follow- 
ing np  of  every  indication  that  seems  to  give  promise  of 
success  !  Oh !  those  restless,  unquiet  diggers,  how  they 
keep  every  thought,  every  look,  every  stroke  of  the  pick 
concentrated  upon  the  one  object  of  their  pursuit !  Let  a 
mineralogist  light  among  them  and  begin  to  speculate  upon 
the  origin  of  gold,  upon  its  matrix,  upon  the  mode  in  which 
the  auriferous  veins  were  molten  :  and  they  will  tell  him 
that  they  have  no  time  to  listen  to  his  speculations.  If  he 
will  take  a  tool  and  help  them  in  their  search,  they  will 

1  Prov.  ii,  4;  5. 


414  Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved? 

thank  him  ;  if  he  will  not,  they  cannot  be  disturbed  by  his 
unprofitable  talk.  Work,  work,  is  what  they  are  engaged 
in  ;  and  they  have  no  leisure  for  any  thing  else.  This  is 
striving.  This  is  what  our  Lord  means  when  He  draws  this 
distinction,  —  the  difference  between  a  man  peering  about 
and  talking,  and  striking  a  stroke  now  and  then :  and 
another  man  putting  forth  all  his  effort  and  all  his  strength 
to  gain  His  treasure !  Let  us  take  another  passage,  and 
this  time  from  the  New  Testament,  to  show  the  difference 
here  intended  by  our  Lord.  "  Know  ye  not,"  says  S.  Paul, 
in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  "  that  they  which  run 
in  a  race,  run  all,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize?  So  run, 
that  ye  may  obtain.  And  every  man  that  striveth  for  the 
mastery  is  temperate  in  all  things.  Now  they  do  it  to  ob- 
tain a  corruptible  crown  ;  but  we  an  incorruptible.  I  there- 
fore so  run,  not  as  uncertainly ;  so  fight  I,  not  as  one  that 
beateth  the  air :  but  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into 
subjection."  1  The  figure  is  changed :  but  the  lesson  is  the 
same.  The  Olympic  race  takes  the  place  of  the  mining  for 
hid  treasures :  but  when  we  bring  our  memory  and  our 
conception  to  bear  upon  the  simile,  we  perceive  the  like 
earnestness,  the  like  hard  training,  the  like  unceasing 
effort,  the  whole  soul  cast  into  the  struggle.  That  corrup- 
tible crown  put  every  candidate  to  his  utmost  strain  ;  no 
time  for  trifling  then  ;  no  space  for  theory  ;  it  was  all  stern 
work.  And  thus  again  we  have  the  difference  between 
striving  and  seeking ;  —  between  a  real  struggle  for  the 
prize,  and  a  mere  desire  accompanied  by  a  few,  faint,  irreg- 
ular efforts. 

This  is  the  meaning  of  Christ,  that  mere  seeking  will  not 
do.  Many  shall  seek,  but  shall  not  be  able  to  enter  in.  The 
mere  wish  of  Balaam,  "  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  right- 
eous, and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his !  "  2  is  not  striving. 
1 1  Cor.  ix.  24-27.  2  Num.  xxiii.  10. 


Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved?  415 

The  mere  question  of  the  young  man  in  the  Gospel, 
"  What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ?  "  is  not  striving. 
The  mere  hearing  the  Word  of  God,  as  we  find  it  illustrated 
in  the  parable  of  the  sower,  is  not  striving.  The  mere 
coming  to  he  baptized  and  confirmed,  as  in  the  case  of 
Simon,1  is  not  striving.  And  it  is  such  as  these,  who  think 
Heaven  worth  such  effort,  but  not  a  steady  persistent 
struggle,  that  Christ  means,  when  he  says  that  "  many  will 
seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able."  His  remark  is  not 
directed  against  the  earnest,  against  the  humble,  against 
the  sincere,  against  those  who  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness,  however  feeble  and  infirm  they  may  be.  It 
is  against  the  unstable,  who  wish  to-day,  and  forget  to-mor- 
row ;  who  make  vows  in  times  of  calamity,  and  break  them 
as  soon  as  the  storm  of  trouble  blows  over.  It  is  against 
the  fickle,  who  are  zealous  to-day,  and  to-morrow  are 
driven  from  Christ  by  some  hard  saying  which  cannot  be 
swallowed.  It  is  against  the  loaves-and-fishes  converts, 
who  follow  the  Saviour  in  sunshiue  and  favor,  but  fall  away 
when  aflliction  and  persecution  come  for  righteousness' 
sake.  Christ  said,  "  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  :  M  but  it  was 
seek  in  the  sense  of  strive,  —  seeking  as  for  hid  treasures, 
seeking  as  for  victory  in  a  race  ! 

But  not  only  must  we  strive  instead  of  seeking,  but  we 
must  strive  in  the  right  way.  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate,"  implies  that  there  may  be  a  striving,  and 
yet  it  shall  come  to  naught  because  it  is  in  a  wrong  direc- 
tion. It  cannot  too  often  be  pressed  upon  the  world,  "  that 
there  is  none  other  Name  given  among  men,  whereby  we 
must  be  saved," 2  than  the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Naza- 
reth. Men  are  apt  to  imagine  that  there  are  many  ways  to 
Heaven.  Christ,  our  Lord,  says  emphatically,  "  I  am  the 
way  :  no  man  can  come  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  3 
1  Acts  viii.  17.  2  Ibid.  iv.  12.  3  S.  John  xiv.  6.  ' 


416  Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved? 

Men  are  apt  to  suppose  that  if  their  lives  are  right  in  the 
sight  of  their  fellow-men,  they  cannot  fail  to  enter  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Christ,  our  Lord,  says  distinctly : 
u  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can- 
not enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God."  1  Men  assert  that 
all  that  is  necessary  to  secure  salvation  is,  that  they  should 
repent  and  amend  their  lives.  The  inspiration  of  God  says 
distinctly  :  "  Without  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission."2 
Men  claim  that  God  is  a  God  of  love,  and  that  they  may 
safely  rest  themselves  upon  His  mercy.  The  Bible  affirms 
that,  out  of  Christ,  "  God  is  a  consuming  fire."  It  is  these 
declarations  of  the  inspired  Word  of  God  which  make  the 
gate  of  salvation  so  strait  a  gate ;  —  strait,  not  in  the  sense 
of  its  being  hid  from  any  humble,  holy  child  of  God,  who 
rests  in  the  mercy  of  Christ :  but  strait,  because  it  binds 
human  nature  down  to  the  will  of  God  ;  because  it  forces 
every  soul  to  bow  the  knee  to  Jesus  Christ ;  because  it  de- 
mands of  him  who  would  be  saved  a  stern  antagonism  to 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  And  these  are  the 
things  which  a  proud  heart  rebels  against.  It  loves  noth- 
ing so  well  as  its  own  will ;  it  revolts  at  nothing  more  de- 
terminedly than  a  restriction  to  one  plan  of  salvation,  and 
that  a  plan  wherein  it  can  claim  no  merit  to  itself.  It 
loathes  nothing  more  hatefully  than  the  scheme  of  life 
which  places  it  as  a  pilgrim,  passing  through  an  enemy's 
country,  and  overcoming  as  it  advances  the  seductions  and 
allurements  of  the  world.  All  this  makes  the  gate  very 
strait ;  —  hard  to  find,  and  difficult  to  enter.  How  many 
turn  aside  at  some  point  or  other  of  the  way,  and  perish ! 
How  many  are  tempted,  and  destroyed  !  How  many  put 
their  hand  to  the  plough,  and  turn  back !  How  many 
wander  into  the  broad  path  of  ease  and  lukewarm n ess,  and 
go  down  to  hell !  And  all  these  were  seekers,  —  persons 
i  S.  John  iii.  5.  2  Heb.  ix.  22. 


Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved?  417 

who  at  one  period  or  another  of  their  lives,  seemed  to  be 
in  earnest ;  did  begin  to  run  well :  and  yet  are  not  found 
when  Christ  ruaketh  up  His  jewels.  We  see  it  verified 
every  day  in  the  Church  upon  earth,  as  it  will  be  more 
strikingly  exhibited  in  the  Church  triumphant :  "  Many 
shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able." 

And  this  in  spite  of  our  dear  Lord's  proclamations  of 
mercy.  He  says,  "  I  am  the  door : "  and  has  unceasingly 
called  upon  sinful  man  to  enter  in  and  be  saved.  While  we 
listen  to  the  words  which  He  put,  by  His  Spirit,  into  the 
mouths  of  His  servants,  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  the  strait- 
ness  of  the  g*ate  is  due  to  our  unwillingness,  and  not  to  His 
want  of  compassion.  When  we  remember  the  gracious 
words  of  His  prophet,  calling  the  Gospel  an  highway  of 
holiness,  and  telling  us  that  the  wayfaring  man,  though  a 
fool,  should  not  err  therein ;  when  we  catch  the  echo  of 
their  words  reaching  to  us  over  an  interval  of  three  thou- 
sand years,  saying  even  then,  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth, 
come  ye  to  the  waters  ;  "  when  we  bring  to  our  mind's  eye 
the  gracious  Saviour  standing  on  that  last  day,  the  great 
day  of  the  feast,  and  crying  aloud  in  the  hearing  of  the 
multitudes  :  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and 
drink ; "  when  we  linger  about  the  departing  spirit  of  the 
last  of  the  Apostles,  —  that  beloved  disciple  who  leaned  in 
deep  affection  upon  his  Master's  bosom,  if  so  he  might 
shield  Him  from  the  Cross,  —  and  hear  his  last  notes, 
sweeter,  like  those  of  the  swan,  because  they  were  his  dying 
notes,  sounding  to  a  sinful  world  the  cheering  music  of  free, 
unconditioned  grace :  "  And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say, 
Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him 
that  is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take 
the  water  of  life  freely : " 1  we  cannot  think  of  the  gate  of 
entrance  as  strait.    Our  spirits  rise  at  the  remembrance ; 

1  Eev.  xxii.  17. 

27 


41 8  Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved? 

and  we  feel,  with  the  Psalmist :  "  For  as  the  heaven  is  high 
above  the  earth,  so  great  is  His  mercy  toward  them  that 
fear  him.  Like  as  a  Father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the 
Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him."  1  It  is  only  when  we 
consider  ourselves  and  our  kind,  —  when  we  trace  the  rec- 
ords of  our  race  and  see  its  hardness  of  heart,  its  perverse- 
ness,  its  willful  ignorance,  its  scorn  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus,  its  unwillingness  to  sit  humbly  at  the  feet  of  Jesus 
and  learn,  its  perversions  of  His  Gospel,  that  we  can  under- 
stand that  the  gate  is  strait,  and  that  man  himself  makes 
it  so.  As  one  has  strikingly  said  :  "  When  I  look  at  men, 
my  wonder  is  that  any  are  saved ;  when  I  look  at  Christ 
and  hear  the  Gospel,  my  wonder  is,  that  any  one  is 
lost." 

If  you  will  only  strive,  my  beloved  hearers,  you  cannot 
conceive  how  much  help  you  will  receive.  It  will  come 
flowing  in  upon  you  from  the  Church,  from  the  Scriptures, 
from  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  worldly  maxim 
"  that  God  helps  those  who  help  themselves  "  is  in  nothing 
more  true  than  in  spiritual  things.  If  you  sit,  waiting  for 
the  coming  of  the  impulses  which  are  to  lead  you  onward 
to  Heaven,  you  shall  be  very  apt  to  sit  unmoved  forever. 
It  is  "  the  soul  of  the  diligent "  that  "  shall  be  made  fat."  2 
It  is  he  who  seeketh  everywhere  for  his  Beloved,  that  shall 
find  Him.  The  difficulty  in  Christianity  is  most  often  in 
the  very  first  step,  —  in  saying,  "  I  will  arise,  and  go  to  my 
Father."  While  that  resolution  is  forming,  Satan  piles  up 
mountains  of  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  sinner :  but  faith 
scatters  them  all  as  clouds  before  the  sun.  Let  him  but 
persevere,  and  he  will  find  his  faith  tried :  but  in  that  trial 
he  will  get  knowledge,  patience,  godliness,  charity.  He 
will  have  to  struggle  :  but  his  path  will  shine  brighter  and 
brighter ;  and  when  his  sun  is  about  to  set,  the  clouds  of 

1  Psalm  ciii.  11,  13.  2  Prov.  xiii.  4. 


Are  there  Few  that  be  Saved?  419 

doubt,  of  diffidence,  of  faithlessness,  which  may  have  fol- 
lowed him  to  his  rest,  will  suddenly  be  lighted  up  with  the 
love  of  Christ,  and  be  changed  into  a  retinue  of  glory 
ushering  him  in  triumph  to  his  Heavenly  home  ! 


C^ut^eigljtty  Sermon 


/  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father ;  and  will  say  unto  him,  Father, 
I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more 
worthy  to  be  called  thy  son :  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants. 
—  S.  Luke  xv.  18,  19. 

TT  OW  to  become  religious  is  quite  as  important  a  ques- 
tion  as  what  Religion  is ;  and  as  much  more  interest- 
ing to  us,  as  how  to  acquire  an  estate  is  more  absorbing 
than  a  mere  description  of  it.  Christianity  is  of  moment 
to  us  just  in  proportion  to  its  being  attainable ;  and  if  we 
were  persuaded  that  it  was  out  of  our  reach,  it  would  at 
once  cease  to  excite  any  emotion  in  us.  Formal,  didactic 
instruction  about  religion,  or  naked  descriptions  of  its 
beauty,  however  eloquent,  are  of  very  little  concern  to  in- 
telligent minds.  They  already  know  all  that.  Their  taste 
or  their  reading  has  satisfied  them  upon  those  points. 
They  consent  at  once  to  the  purity  of  its  morals,  to  the 
Divinity  of  Christ's  character,  to  the  sublimity  of  His 
promises.  They  come  to  Church,  not  to  hear  such  abstract 
questions  discussed,  but  to  be  told  how  they  themselves,  as 
individuals,  may  reap  the  benefit  of  this  mercy,  and  may 
attain  the  hope  of  everlasting  life  which  is  held  out  in  the 
Gospel.  They  want  Christianity  brought  home  to  them- 
selves ;  and  even  though  they  be  not  ready  to  embrace  it, 
they  desire  to  be  persuaded  that  it  can  be  laid  hold  of 
whenever  they  may  be  prepared  to  make  the  effort.  A  busy 
man  has  not  much  time  to  give  to  any  matter  treated  in  an 
unpractical  way,  nor  does  he  put  much  faith  in  rhetoric. 


The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  421 

He  is  accustomed  to  look  at  every  subject  in  a  business 
point  of  view ;  and  bis  mind  gets  to  be  so  trained  in  tbat 
way,  tbat  be  is  impatient  unless  one  dealing  witb  him,  even 
about  spiritual  tilings,  comes  directly  to  tbe  point.  He 
wants  no  descriptions ;  be  calls  for  reasoning.  He  turns 
away  from  tbe  imagination ;  but  is  very  ready  to  listen  to 
common  sense.  "  All  this,"  says  be,  "  is  very  fine  ;  but  tbe 
interesting  question  for  me  is,  Can  I  obtain  tbis  religion  ? 
If  I  can,  bow  sball  I  set  about  it  ?  Trace  out  for  me  tbe 
steps  wbich  I  am  to  take,  to  lead  me  to  salvation.  I  do  not 
promise  you  to  follow  your  instructions ;  but  I  sbould  be 
glad  to  understand  my  logical  position,  —  if  I  may  use  such 
a  term,  —  and  to  know  wbat  is  tbe  first  move  in  tbis  sub- 
lime matter  of  salvation." 

It  is  very  striking  bow  exactly  tbe  sacred  writers  meet 
tbese  wants.  Our  Saviour  was  tbe  most  practical  teacber 
tbat  ever  lived.  He  came  always  directly  to  tbe  point,  and 
never  wasted  a  word  or  a  moment  upon  any  tiling  tbat  was 
abstract  or  rhetorical.  And  this  is  tbe  reason  wby  all  tbe 
greatest  topics  which  can  interest  man  for  time  or  for  eter- 
nity are  discussed  and  settled  within  a  space  incredibly 
small.  The  life  of  Christ,  and  the  teachings  of  Christ,  are 
included  in  the  compass  of  what  would  be  considered,  now- 
adays, a  very  moderate  pamphlet :  for  we  must  remember 
that  the  same  story  and  tbe  same  teachings  are  given  by 
the  several  Evangelists,  and  S.  John  is  the  only  one  who 
introduces  much  new  matter  into  his  narrative.  A  tract, 
therefore,  equal  in  size  to  two  of  the  Evangelists,  would 
embrace  every  thing  which  He  thought  it  necessary  to  ut- 
ter upon  such  topics  as  morals,  and  Religion,  and  the  true 
philosophy  of  life.  And  in  that  same  tract  would  be  found, 
besides,  the  whole  story  of  His  divine  example,  from  His 
conception  to  His  resurrection.  This  assures  us  that  there 
is  nothing  superfluous  ;  nothing  that  could  be  omitted  with 


422         The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son. 

safety  to  the  soul  or  its  interests  :  and  it  leaves  the  busiest 
man  without  excuse,  when  it  asks  of  him  the  study  of  a 
Book  so  small  that  it  might  be  read  over  every  day  without 
the  slightest  interference  with  any  of  his  duties. 

The  peculiar  feature  of  our  Saviour's  teaching,  as  pre- 
served for  us  in  the  Gospels,  consists  in  His  constant  use 
of  parables  and  similitudes.  "  If  we  take  any  portion  of 
our  Saviour's  discourses  in  the  first  three  Gospels,"  says  a 
beautiful  writer  of  our  day,  "  we  are  struck  at  once  with 
the  richness  of  its  texture.  It  is  like  a  beautiful  piece  of 
tesselated  work,  composed  of  rich  designs  of  imagery,  each 
of  which  is  beautiful  in  itself,  but  runs  into  the  next; 
while  perhaps,  in  the  midst,  to  continue  our  image,  comes 
a  fuller  and  more  finished  picture,  set  as  in  a  rich  border. 
There  is  scarcely  a  sentence  that  descends  to  what  we 
should  call  prose.  Every  thought  is  conveyed  in  a  senten- 
tious, proverbial,  and  easily  remembered  form :  or  it  is  a 
beautiful  and  perfect  simile  ;  or  it  is  a  more  formal  and  com- 
plete allegory,  corresponding  point  by  point  with  a  more 
solemn  lesson.  Now  to  every  one  of  these  forms  of  speech 
the  term  parable  is  applied ;  therefore  the  Scripture  is  lit- 
erally true :  "  All  these  things  spake  Jesus  unto  the  mul- 
titude in  parables ;  and  without  a  parable  spake  he  not 
unto  them."  1  It  is  this  solemn  lesson,  deduced  from  one 
of  these  allegories,  that  I  shall  use  to-day  as  the  reply  to 
your  practical  questions. 

There  is  no  portion  of  Scripture  which  answers  more 
cheeringly  your  question,  "  Can  I  obtain  this  religion  ? " 
than  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  It  combines  the 
things  which  seem  to  stand  at  the  extremest  distance,  — 
the  holiness  of  God,  and  the  reckless  sinfulness  of  man ; 
and  teaches  us  how  they  can  be  reconciled.  No  one  need 
despair  when  he  shall  have  studied  this  allegory ;  for  no 

1  S.  Matt.  xiii.  34. 


The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  423 

one  can  have  plunged  himself  into  deeper  sin  or  viler  deg- 
radation. Ingratitude,  forgetfulness,  lust,  bestiality,  loathe- 
some  vulgarity,  were  all  united  in  him :  and  all  found  mercy 
and  generous  forgiveness.  He  learned,  —  when  he  had 
come  to  himself,  when  he  used  the  proper  means  for  restora- 
tion,—  that  his  Father's  love  had  never  been  extinguished; 
that  his  own  wickedness  had  alone  separated  them  so  long. 
For  filthy  rags,  he  received  at  once  and  unconditionally  the 
very  best  robe.  Instead  of  rebuke,  he  was  met  with  the 
most  joyous  affection ;  and  every  thing  was  done  which  love 
could  dictate,  to  do  him  honor  and  give  him  assurance  of 
unreserved  forgiveness. 

The  verses  from  which  I  preach  occur  in  that  portion  of 
the  parable,  in  which  the  Prodigal  occupies  the  very  stand- 
point you  do  when  you  ask  what  is  your  logical  position, 
and  what  is  first  to  be  done  in  this  great  work  of  salvation. 
You  may  not  have  reached  the  depth  of  misery  and  humil- 
iation to  which  he  had  sunk.  That  feature  of  his  condition 
is  immaterial,  it  being  an  extreme  case,  used  to  manifest 
the  great  love  and  mercy  of  God  ;  but,  like  him,  you  find  it 
necessary  to  move  towards  God.  What,  according  to  the 
scheme  of  the  Gospel,  is  the  order  of  things  ?  Must  I  ap- 
proach God  ?  or  shall  I  wait  until  He  approaches  me '? 

This  is,  you  perceive,  a  practical  question :  and  we  must 
therefore  avoid  all  the  metaphysics  which  may  be  made  to 
play  around  it.  Innumerable  points  connected  with  the 
"Will  might  be  discussed,  which  could  only  darken  counsel 
by  words  without  knowledge ;  but  they  are  unnecessary 
here,  for  Christ  in  His  peculiar  way,  has  passed  them  all  by ; 
and  has  made  the  Prodigal,  out  of  the  depths  of  his  misery, 
say,  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father."'  Xo  discussions 
about  liberty,  or  necessity,  —  no  cavillings  about  the  mo- 
tives which  influence  the  Will,  —  no  question  about  power 
or  impotence  !    The  Gordian  knot  is  cut  at  once  by  the 


424         The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son. 

common  sense  of  a  stern  misery ;  and  he  determines  to  do 
that  which  he  feels  he  can  do,  —  arise  and  go  to  his  father. 

This  is  the  answer  to  your  question.  The  first  move  is 
required  on  your  part,  because  "God  so  loved  the  world, 
that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son  "  1  to  die  for  its  salva- 
tion. This  sacrifice  of  His  Son  has  reconciled  Him  to  all 
sinners  conditionally,  and  has  made  it  altogether  suitable 
with  His  character  to  receive  any  who  will  arise,  and  come 
to  Him,  and  humble  themselves  before  Him.  His  position 
is  that  of  the  father  in  the  parable,  who  simply  waits  until 
his  son  will  arise  and  come  to  him.  God's  love  has  known 
no  cessation ;  His  feeling  has  been  one  of  grief  and  com- 
passion ;  and  He  has  authorized  His  messengers  to  pro- 
claim that,  to  every  one  of  you.  The  office  of  us  who 
preach  to  you  is  called  "  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  ;  to 
wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself."  "Now  then,"  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  speaking 
for  all  of  us,  "we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though 
God  did  beseech  you  by  us :  we  pray  you  in  Christ's 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 2  In  this,  you  perceive, 
the  reality  of  the  Gospel  exceeds  the  imagination  of  the 
parable.  In  that,  the  son  makes  up  his  determination 
without  any  entreaty  on  the  part  of  his  father ;  it  arises 
simply  out  of  his  misery.  With  you,  there  is  added  the 
earnest  message,  sent  by  God  through  His  Ministry  be- 
seeching you  to  come,  —  so  earnest  that  the  Apostle  calls 
it  a  prayer.  What  more  can  He  do  ?  He  has  given  His 
only-beloved  Son  to  death  (as  you  see  commemorated  before 
you  to-day),  that  He  may  be  enabled  to  occupy  this  position. 
He  has  accepted  the  Sacrifice,  and  pronounced  it  sufficient ; 
He  has  instituted  a  Church  in  which  to  welcome,  strength- 
en, and  comfort  all  who  may  come ;  and  in  that  Church  has 
organized  a  Ministry  as  His  ambassadors  to  pray  you,  — 
1  S.  John  iii.  16.  2  2  Cor.  v.  18-20. 


The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  425 

that  is  the  term,  —  to  be  reconciled  to  Him.  And  with 
that  Church  and  with  that  Ministry  has  Christ  promised 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be,  always,  unto  the  end  of  the 
world. 

The  first  step,  after  all  this,  is  on  your  part.  God  is  rec- 
onciled to  you,  and  is  ready  to  welcome  you.  He  waits  now 
upon  your  determination.  And  it  is  just  here  that  the  of- 
fice of  the  Minister  as  a  preacher  comes  in.  He  addresses 
you  Sunday  after  Sunday,  urging  you  to  do  —  what  ?  To 
determine  to  arise  and  come  to  God  !  He  sometimes  ap- 
peals to  you  by  one  motive,  and  sometimes  by  another.  In 
one  sermon,  your  excuses  for  not  coming  are  examined ; 
ill  another,  the  temptations  to  keep  from  God  are  laid  open 
before  you.  Now  your  fears  are  assailed;  and  then  the 
allurements  of  the  Gospel  are  presented  to  you.  But  what- 
ever form  these  addresses  may  take,  they  all  look  to  that 
single  point,  —  to  lead  you  to  say,  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to 
my  Father."  If  you  will  only  say  that  from  the  heart,  you 
are  safe ;  for  He  has  said,  "  Him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out." 1  And  until  you  say  that,  nothing 
more  can  be  done :  for  God  cannot  have  mercy  upon  a 
proud,  impenitent,  sullen  sinner.  He  may  love  you,  as 
one  of  His  creatures ;  He  may  pity  you,  as  one  bent  upon 
everlasting  destruction :  but  He  will  not  permit  either 
that  love  or  that  pity  to  make  Him  swerve  one  hair's 
breadth  from  His  covenant  of  salvation.  He  cannot  do  it : 
because  it  was  a  solemn  covenant  made  with  His  Son, 
—  a  covenant  requiring  the  humiliation  and  death  of  that 
Son ;  and  should  He  change  its  terms  for  you,  or  me,  or 
the  whole  world,  he  should  acknowledge  to  the  Universe 
that  He  had  made  a  needless  sacrifice  of  His  Son.  That 
Son  gave  Himself  to  the  Cross,  because  man's  sin  could 
no  otherwise  be  forgiven;  and  when  you  imagine  that  it 

1  S.  John  vi.  37. 


426         The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son, 

can  be  set  aside  for  you,  it  plainly  shows  that  you  have  no 
proper  conception  of  the  mysterious  awfulness  of  that 
Crucifixion. 

Nor  is  this  demand  upon  you  to  arise  and  go  to  your 
Father  any  interference  with  the  sovereign  grace  of  God. 
5  T  is  true  our  Saviour  said,  "  No  man  can  come  to  me,  ex- 
cept the  Father  which  hath  sent  me  draw  him :  "  1  hut  what 
is  meant  by  this  "  drawing  ? "  How  was  the  Prodigal 
drawn  ?  By  his  misery.  His  father  permitted  him  to  suf- 
fer, until  his  sufferings  could  no  more  be  borne :  and  then 
he  said,  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father."  And  how 
was  the  Canaanitish  woman  drawn  ?  By  the  misery  of  her 
child.  And  how  were  the  multitudes  who  turned  in  the 
days  of  the  Apostles  drawn?  By  the  preaching  of  the 
Word.  And  how  were  the  Bereans  drawn  ?  By  searching 
the  Scriptures  daily.  And  how  was  Timothy  drawn  ?  By 
the  Christian  instruction  of  his  mother  and  grandmother. 
So  that  this  drawing  is,  you  perceive,  as  various  as  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  individuals,  the  Holy  Spirit  working  in 
and  through  them  all.  No  matter  what,  then,  may  be  the 
motive  which  draws  you  to  God,  provided  it  be  a  good  one, 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  probably  using  it  to  bring  you  to  a  deci- 
sion. It  may  be  affliction  ;  it  may  be  gratitude  ;  it  may  be 
a  feeling  of  satiety  with  the  world,  or  perchance  a  heart 
overflowing  with  love ;  it  may  be  sickness ;  it  may  be  the 
fear  of  death.  No  matter  what,  —  if  it  make  you  ready  to 
cast  yourselves  into  the  open  arms  of  your  Father,  —  listen 
to  it ;  quench  not  the  Spirit ;  be  not  tempted  away  by  any 
fear  or  distrust.  It  is  a  Father  who  invites  you ;  who  prays 
you  to  be  reconciled  to  Him ;  who  offers  you  in  exchange 
for  your  submission  the  noblest  treasures  of  His  house  and 
the  richest  graces  of  His  own  divine  Nature. 

And  do  not  delay  because  you  are  not  fit  to  come.  Look 
1  S.  John  Ti.  44. 


The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  427 

at  the  condition  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  when  he  said,  "  I  will 
arise  and  go  to  niy  Father."  Look  at  his  plight  when  he 
reached  that  forsaken  home.  He  rose  right  up  from  com- 
pany with  the  swine,  and  went  jnst  as  he  was.  He  did  not 
try  to  deceive  his  Father  hy  assnming  a  better  appearance 
than  he  was  rightfully  entitled  to.  He  did  not  think  that 
he  would  fare  better  for  being  "  decent."  Common  sense 
told  him  that  a  loving  Father's  heart  would  be  more  moved 
by  his  misery  and  woful  appearance  than  by  any  thing  else ; 
and  he  went,  just  as  he  was.  And  so  with  you.  You  are 
many  of  you  waiting  until  you  can  approach  God  more  ac- 
ceptably. And  this  you  think  meritorious  ;  when  it  is  all  a 
device  of  the  Devil.  He  is  anxious  to  keep  you  from  your 
Father,  and  he  whispers  to  you,  as  if  in  honor  of  that 
Father  :  "  Certainly  you  are  not  going  as  you  are,  to  that 
great  and  Holy  God  (mark  you,  how  he  keeps  from  you  the 
tender  epithet  of  "  Father ").  He  will  not  receive  you, 
miserable  sinner  as  you  are !  Amend  your  ways  a  little 
more,  before  you  press  into  His  presence."  Listen  not  to 
any  such  advice.  I  am  God's  ambassador,  knowing  God's 
will  much  better  than  the  Devil  does ;  and  I  pray  you,  in 
Christ's  stead,  "  Be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  The  Spirit  and 
the  Bride  say,  Come  / 

When  you  have  made  this  resolution  —  "I  will  arise  and 
go  to  my  Father  "  —  you  have  included  in  the  act  the  two 
conditions  of  salvation.  You  have  repented  and  believed : 
—  repented,  in  that  you  are  sorry  for  having  wandered 
away  from  God ;  believed,  in  that  you  have  trusted  the  love 
of  God  in  Christ,  and  have  cast  yourself  upon  His  mercy. 
And  this  view  may  relieve  you  of  some  of  the  difficulties 
which  are  made  to  surround  the  doctrines  of  Repentance 
and  Faith.  They  can  be  involved  in  much  intricacy,  and 
made  to  perplex  an  anxious  soul ;  but  here  is  our  Lord's  so- 
lution of  them.    With  this  Prodigal,  repentance  is  made  to 


428        The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son. 

be  a  turning'  away  from  a  course  of  evil,  and  a  turning  unto 
God.  No  measures  of  repentance  are  described  :  no  degree 
of  sorrow  or  of  tears  is  fixed  upon.  It  is  simply  a  deter- 
mination to  change  from  the  world  to  God.  Sorrow  for  sin 
may  accompany  it,  and  certainly  will  be  produced  by  it  in 
the  end ;  for  the  more  we  see  of  the  holiness  of  God,  the 
more  shall  we  mourn  over  our  own  corruption  :  but  it  may 
not  be  very  intense  in  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  life. 
Our  whole  change  is  produced  by  the  Spirit  of  God :  and 
the  degree  of  our  compunction  will  be  regulated  by  Him. 
He  may  choose  to  work  no  further  upon  you  at  first,  than 
to  lead  you  to  determine  to  arise  and  go  to  your  Father. 
That  is  for  Him  to  decide,  and  not  for  you ;  and  if  you 
have  made  up  your  mind  sincerely  to  go  to  God,  that  is 
enough.  Leave  the  divine  Spirit  to  deal  with  you  as  He 
thinks  best,  touching  the  degree  of  sorrow  you  may  feel. 
And  as  with  repentance,  so  with  faith.  It  is  made,  in  the 
analogy  of  this  parable,  to  consist  in  casting  one's  self  upon 
the  love  and  mercy  of  God.  It  is  independent  of  all  frames 
and  feelings ;  and  is  simply  trust  in  God :  such  a  belief  in 
His  abounding  compassion  in  and  through  Christ,  as  shall 
lead  you  to  go  to  Him  exactly  as  you  are,  trusting  that  He 
will  make  all  the  necessary  changes  within  you. 

Your  next  step  is  confession  —  confession  to  God,  and 
not  to  man.  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and 
before  thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son : " 
—  that  is,  "I  have  sinned  against  Thee,  my  Father  in 
Heaven."  When  you  will  do  this,  my  hearer,  you  are  fast 
making  your  peace  with  God ;  because  you  have  at  last 
recognized  the  real  evil  of  sin  to  be  its  offence  against  God. 
That  is  striking  at  the  root  of  sin,  when  you  see  it  in  this 
light.  "  For,"  as  one  has  well  expressed  it,  "  we  may  in- 
jure ourselves  by  our  evil,  we  may  wrong  our  neighbor,  but 
strictly  speaking,  we  can  sin  only  against  God ;  and  the 


The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  429 

recognition  of  our  evil  as  first  and  chiefly  an  offence  against 
Him,  is  of  the  essence  of  all  true  repentance,  and  distin- 
guishes it  broadly  from  many  other  kinds  of  sorrow  which 
may  follow  on  evil  deeds."  The  error  the  world  makes  is 
precisely  the  contrary  of  this  :  it  reckons  sin  to  be  heinous 
exactly  in  proportion  to  its  interference  with  the  security 
of  life  and  property.  It  never  considers  the  offence  against 
God,  and  therefore  it  is  that  we  see  Society  and  the  Church 
at  such  issues  about  sin.  Many  whom  the  Church  con- 
demns, the  world  upholds  ;  because  their  crimes  are  crimes 
only  in  the  eyes  of  religious  people.  Many  on  the  other 
hand  whom  the  world  condemns,  the  Church  upholds  ;  be- 
cause the  world  is  persecuting  them  for  Christian  graces, 
for  meekness,  for  forbearance,  for  humility.  TThen  a  con- 
fession therefore,  such  as  this,  falls  from  the  lips  of  a  man, 
it  is  a  sure  sign  of  grace,  —  a  token  that  he  has  been  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  arise  and  go  to  his  Father. 

And  this  confession  no  man  has  a  right  to  call  upon  you 
to  make  to  him.  There  is  no  more  flagrant  usurpation  over 
the  conscience  than  the  auricular  confession  of  Rome,  —  no 
greater  engine  of  tyranny  in  the  whole  armory  of  its  des- 
potism. It  puts  everybody  into  the  power  of  the  priest- 
hood. It  gives  the  priesthood  dominion  over  the  individ- 
ual, the  family,  and  the  nation.  For  there  is  no  human 
heart  which  has  not  its  weakness ;  no  human  family  which 
has  not  its  secrets  dearer  to  it  than  life.  And  when  these 
are  all  sucked  into  the  confessional,  and  motives,  and  de- 
sires, and  imaginations,  and  weaknesses  are  all  probed,  and 
the  web  of  superstition  is  woven  around  them,  how  can 
such  a  power  be  resisted  ?  And  it  has  no  warrant  of  Script- 
ure. S.  James  exhorts  Christians  to  confess  their  faults 
one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another  :  but  this  is  al- 
together a  voluntary  matter.  Our  own  Church  goes  as  far 
as  recommendation,  in  peculiar  cases,  of  confession.    It  is 


430        The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son. 

contained  in  the  close  of  the  exhortation  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  Prayer  for  the  Church  Militant  in  the  Commun- 
ion Office,  in  these  words :  "  And  because  it  is  requisite 
that  no  man  should  come  to  the  Holy  Communion,  hut 
with  a  full  trust  in  God's  mercy,  and  with  a  quiet  con- 
science ;  therefore,  if  there  be  any  of  you,  who  by  these 
means  cannot  quiet  his  own  conscience  herein,  but  requir- 
eth  further  comfort  or  counsel,  let  him  come  to  me,  or  to 
some  other  Minister  of  God's  Word,  and  open  his  grief ; 
that  he  may  receive  such  godly  counsel  and  advice,  as  may 
tend  to  the  quieting  of  his  conscience,  and  the  removing 
of  all  scruple  and  doubtfulness."  But  this  is  very  different 
from  compulsory  confession.  This  is  very  little  more  than 
asking  the  advice  of  a  pastor.  But  to  require  confession 
under  penalty  of  an  anathema  is  to  usurp  the  place  of  God, 
who  has  told  us  to  come  boldly  ourselves  to  the  throne  of 
grace,  because  we  have  an  High  Priest  there  who  can  be 
touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  infirmities. 

The  last  grace  which  is  developed  in  these  verses,  is  that 
sweet  grace  of  humility :  "  Make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired 
servants."  "  I  do  not  come  to  thee,  0  Father,  that  I  may 
have  honor,  or  favor,  or  ease  :  I  am  not  worthy  to  be  thy 
son.  Put  me  in  the  very  lowest  place,  as  one  of  thy  hired 
servants.  I  come  to  thee  in  repentance  and  faith  and  love. 
Do  with  me  as  Thou  pleasest:  only  give  me  Thy  mercy.  I 
do  not  claim  the  honor  of  a  son.  I  do  not  ask  even  for  the 
place  of  a  slave  born  in  thy  house,  or  bought  with  thy 
money  :  because  they  can  claim  thine  attachment,  and  thou 
art  bound  to  them  by  ties  of  interest  and  obligation  and 
feeling.  But  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants,  be- 
tween whom  and  Thee  there  is  no  necessary  tie ;  —  from 
whom  Thou  mayest  separate  Thyself  at  any  moment  with- 
out a  pang.  Even  this  place  I  will  be  satisfied  with,  if  so 
be  Thou  wilt  only  admit  me  into  Thine  house."    This  is 


The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  431 

true  humility,  —  the  very  spirit  of  David,  when  he  said, 
"  I  would  rather  be  a  doorkeeper  in  the  house  of  ray  God, 
than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  ungodliness  :  " 1  —  any  place, 
0  Father,  even  the  lowest,  so  I  may  dwell  in  Thy  Pres- 
ence, and  bask  in  the  beams  of  Thy  Love. 

These  are  your  steps :  Repentance,  Faith,  Confession, 
Humility.  I  trust  that  I  have  made  them  plain  to  you. 
May  God  give  you  grace,  while  you  have  time  and  oppor- 
tunity, to  say  out  of  an  earnest  and  sincere  heart :  "  I  will 
arise  and  go  to  my  Father." 

1  Psalm  lxxxiv.  10. 


C^ht^mntty  Sermon 


The  heart  knoweth  his  own  bitterness  ;  and  a  stranger  doth  not 
intermeddle  with  his  joy.  —  Proverbs  xiv.  10. 

TT  0 W  much  we  live  to  ourselves  in  this  life,  even  though 
we  are  perpetually  surrounded  by  beings  like  our- 
selves, many  of  them  most  closely  united  to  us  by  the 
strongest  and  sweetest  ties  of  sympathy  and  love !  We 
dwell  together  in  the  same  house  ;  we  eat  together  at  the 
same  table ;  we  meet  each  other  and  interchange  thoughts 
and  opinions  at  all  hours  of  the  day ;  we  mingle  together 
in  the  same  pursuits,  and  think  that  we  know  each  other 
intimately :  and  yet  each  one  has  a  life  of  his  own,  an  in- 
ward life,  entirely  distinct  from  every  other,  and  known 
only  to  God  and  himself.  Every  heart  has  its  own  sorrows 
and  its  own  joys,  independent  of  those  which  are  permitted 
to  mingle  in  the  current  of  our  ordinary  life.  Every  spirit 
has  its  own  sanctuary,  in  which  are  cherished  memories, 
often  of  bitterness,  dreams,  hopes,  fancies,  never  to  be  dis- 
closed to  any  human  eye.  The  outer  life  is  carried  on  in 
the  sight  of  all  men,  while  the  inner  life,  that  which  shapes 
and  colors  it  all,  is  as  much  hidden  as  a  stream  running 
through  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  We  think  we  know  each 
other ;  and  thinking  so,  we  judge  and  freely  criticise  each 
other:  when,  if  the  truth  were  really  known  to  us,  we 
should  be  amazed  at  our  utter  misconception  of  character, 
and  ashamed  at  our  false  and  cruel  judgments.  Beneath 
the  smiling  face  the  heart  is  often  kept  from  breaking  only 


The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness.  433 

by  the  comfort  of  God  ;  and  beneath  a  grave  and  saddened 
aspect  there  is  just  as  often  a  wellspring  of  joy  swelling 
and  bubbling,  which,  were  it  seen  and  understood,  would  be 
the  envy  of  the  world.  When  our  blessed  Saviour  said, 
"  Judge  not  according  to  the  appearance,  but  judge  right- 
eous judgment," 1  He  appointed  His  disciples  one  of  the 
most  difficult  of  all  tasks :  and  for  this  very  reason,  that 
we  do  know  and  can  know  so  little  of  one  another ;  that  we 
see  each  other's  actions  but  cannot  know  each  other's  mo- 
tives ;  that  ail  the  springs  of  life  are  hidden  from  us ;  that 
the  sanctuary  is  not  open  to  us ;  that  a  veil  hangs  before 
our  holy  of  holies,  into  which  none  can  enter  save  He  who 
"  may  be  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  infirmities."  What 
caution  should  this  teach  us  to  use,  in  forming  our  estimate 
of  each  other's  life  and  character  !  We  never  know  the  real 
influences  which  are  at  work  within,  —  the  private  feelings 
which  lie  behind  the  conduct  that  we  do  rest  our  judgments 
upon.  Happiness  and  grief,  smiles  and  tears,  hope  and 
despair,  are  alike  hidden  from  the  public  eye ;  and  man 
lives  an  inner  life  within  himself,  baffling  the  judgment 
of  man,  and  ofttimes  rejoicing  in  the  judgment  of  God. 

It  is  not  strange  that  we  should  thus  be  appointed  to  live 
alone,  when  we  consider  that  we  shall  have  to  die  alone. 
Our  last  great  conflict  can  be  known  to  none  save  God. 
Our  friends  may  stand  in  numbers  around  our  dying  bed ; 
those  who  love  us  more  than  they  love  themselves  may  pour 
out  their  hearts  in  anguish  and  in  supplication  over  our 
struggling  spirit :  but  they  cannot  help  us ;  the  battle 
must  be  within  ourselves.  We  are  in  that  moment  alone 
with  God's  Holy  Spirit.  He  only  knows  the  bitterness  of 
our  heart  in  that  moment  of  awful  sorrow  ;  he  only  knows 
its  joys,  when  life  is  ebbing  away,  and  heavenly  visions  are 
rising  upon  us,  and  mingling  themselves  with  the  closing 
1  S.  John  vii.  24. 

28 


434    The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness. 

scenes  of  earth.  We  are  dying  alone,  just  as  we  have  lived 
alone;  and  our  heart-life  is  all  that  is  important  to  us. 
Actions  tell  but  little,  either  in  life  or  in  death ;  words  still 
less  :  it  is  the  heart  which  is  the  only  reality ;  and  none  see 
that,  save  the  Eye  which  can  look  into  it,  and  search  it, 
and  try  it.  And  thus  we  end  as  we  begin,  nobody  knowing 
us,  save  God ;  nobody  really  helping  us,  save  God  ;  nobody 
able  to  comfort  us,  save  God.  In  Him  we  live,  and  move, 
and  have  our  being  in  its  truest  sense  :  for  our  heart-life  is 
our  real  life,  and  that  which  alone  can  give  us  any  true 
happiness  either  in  life  or  in  death.  It  is  but  of  little  mat- 
ter to  ourselves  what  the  world  may  think  of  us  and  say  of 
us.  If  we  have  the  springs  of  true  joy  within  ourselves, 
no  stranger  can  intermeddle  with  it ;  and  all  his  flattery 
and  adulation  cannot  take  away  the  bitterness  which  may 
have  cleaved  to  the  heart.  Self-consciousness  clings  closer 
to  us  than  any  judgment  of  the  world ;  and  man  has  no 
power  to  intermeddle  with  that  joy  which  cometh  from 
the  fountain  of  love  and  of  peace. 

It  is  wonderful  that  man  does  not  think  of  this  when  he 
is  endeavoring,  as  he  often  is  in  life,  to  flee  away  from  him- 
self. He  must  die  alone,  —  alone  with  God.  He  cannot 
escape  that  terrible  loneliness.  However  much  he  may 
succeed  in  drowning  his  own  true  life  in  pleasures  or  in 
cares  while  God  allots  him  the  privilege  of  living,  he  must 
meet  the  reality  at  last.  If  he  will  not  be  alone  with  him- 
self in  life,  he  must  be  alone  with  God  in  death !  There  is 
no  discharge  in  that  war.  However  he  may  strive  to  es- 
cape from  the  bitterness  of  his  own  heart  in  life,  —  a  bitter- 
ness which  God  perhaps  has  sent  to  turn  him  to  Himself,  — 
he  must  meet  it  at  the  last.  God  cannot  be  gotten  rid  of. 
He  fills  the  spiritual  world,  pervading  it  with  His  presence 
and  His  power;  and  it  is  the  spiritual  world  into  which 
the  dying  man  is  about  to  enter.    His  inner  life  is  being 


The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness.  435 

laid  bare,  and  that  bitterness  which  only  his  heart  was  con- 
scious of,  and  that  joy  with  which  no  stranger  ever  inter- 
meddled, are  alike  unveiled.  He  to  whom  all  hearts  are 
open,  all  desires  known  and  from  whom  no  secrets  are  hid, 
is  looking  into  that  heart  and  searching  it  to  its  depths. 
By  His  judgment  must  man  stand  or  fall,  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  all  outward  influences  of  friends  or  enemies,  of 
nature  or  the  world. 

And  how  kind  and  gracious  it  is  in  our  heavenly  Father 
that  we  should  be  thus  known  only  to  ourselves  and  to 
Him  !  How  blessed  is  it  for  us  that,  in  our  condition  of 
corruption,  we  should  not  be  unveiled  to  each  other  !  How 
much  there  is  in  every  one's  life  that  is  better  hidden  from 
every  eye,  save  that  of  God,  —  how  much  of  feeling,  and 
imagination,  and  motive,  and  purpose !  The  bitterness  of 
the  heart  would  be  made  tenfold  more  bitter  by  being  per- 
ceived in  an  un sympathizing  world ;  and  its  joys  might 
only  bring  down  upon  it,  were  they  disclosed,  ridicule  and 
envy.  We  are  never  permitted,  in  this  world,  to  forget 
that  we  are  living  under  the  curse,  and  that  temptation 
and  sin  are  forever  besetting  us.  Those  pleasures  which 
will  make  up  the  felicity  of  Heaven,  —  the  undisguised 
heart ;  the  unrestrained  feelings ;  the  pure  and  perfect 
love ;  the  unfettered  affections,  —  cannot  be  indulged  in 
here.  Too  much  impurity  cleaves  to  us  to  permit  such  in- 
tercourse on  earth.  The  heart  must  be  very  much  shut  up 
within  itself,  and  its  bitterness  and  its  joys  must  many  of 
them  be  hidden  within  itself.  And  well  is  it  that  it  is  so ; 
otherwise  there  would  be  endless  strife,  and  confusion  im- 
measurable. Even  truth,  were  it  universally  spoken,  would, 
in  a  world  like  ours,  produce  disgust,  and  stir  up  the  fiercest 
feelings.  How  much  more  then  were  every  heart  unveiled, 
and  we  were  permitted  to  read  each  other  in  all  the  stern 
reality  of  life,  without  any  disguise  or  any  palliatives  !  It 


436    The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness. 

would  set  the  world  on  fire,  and  kindle  such  flames  as  onlv 
death  could  extinguish  !  The  disclosure  of  the  bitterness 
of  one  heart  would  ofttimes  steep  another  in  gall ;  and  the 
hidden  joys  which  are  now  clothing  the  path  of  some  poor 
weary  pilgrim  with  beauty  and  fragrance,  would  be  withered 
in  a  moment,  *if  they  were  brought  to  the  light  and  made 
the  criticism  of  the  world.  No  S  we  are  doomed  to  live  our 
inner  life  alone;  to  carry  our  joys  and  sorrows  in  company 
only  with  Christ.  Even  such  an  imperfect  agency  as  the 
confessional  has  to  be  kept  under  the  sacred  seal  of  invio- 
late secresy,  because  the  heart's  life  is  there  pretended  to 
be  disclosed.  There  love,  jealousy,  hatred,  remorse,  are  all 
whispered  into  priestly  ears ;  and,  though  imperfectly,  un- 
fold a  fearful  view  of  earthly  unhappiness  :  unhappiness 
which  can  be  remedied  only  by  the  Spirit  of  a  Holy  God. 
Man  can  exhort  his  fellow  to  bear  and  to  suffer  ;  to  pray, 
and  to  strive ;  to  endure  and  to  trust :  but  he  can  do  no 
more.  Even  in  this,  man's  struggles  must  all  be  alone  : 
and  to  get  even  peace  in  this  world,  he  must  commune 
alone  with  God,  and  roll  his  burdens  and  his  cares  upon 
Him  who  has  "  borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows." 

And  this,  my  beloved  people,  is  the  great  consolation  of 
our  present  existence,  that  we  are  not  quite  alone ;  that  we 
have  a  Friend,  human  in  form  but  Divine  in  Spirit,  who  has 
condescended  to  call  us  brother,  and  to  whom  our  bitter- 
ness and  our  joys  may  alike  be  carried.  0  the  terribleness 
of  suffering  alone,  —  of  carrying  a  laden,  smitten,  bursting 
heart,  without  daring  to  ask  for  sympathy  or  for  help,  —  of 
smothering  all  our  sorrows,  of  beating  back  upon  the  heart 
its  yearning  desire  for  utterance  and  for  consolation !  One 
must  know  this  loneliness  to  know  the  precious  comfort  of 
a  human  Saviour,  —  of  a  Being  coming  to  us  with  love  and 
the  soothing  balm  of  mercy  dripping  upon  us  from  His  lips. 
"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and 


The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness.  437 

I  will  give  you  rest,"  1  are  the  gracious  words  which  He 
has  proclaimed  to  all  who  are  feeling  their  need  of  a  bosom 
to  lean  upon,  and  a  heart  to  beat  in  unison  with  their  own. 
Xo  longer  is  it  the  fate  of  any  of  us  to  suffer  alone  :  all 
have  the  blessedness  offered  them  of  friendship  and  of  sym- 
pathy ;  and  of  more  than  these,  of  mercy,  pardon,  and  peace. 
We  have  not  merely  a  priest  to  make  our  confession  unto ; 
a  priest  who  cannot  tell  whether  we  speak  truth  or  not ; 
who  may  be  deceived  by  a  half-told  tale ;  who  can  give  us 
only  that  absolution  which  may  be  rendered  void  because 
given  upon  unsound  confession  :  but  we  have  a  High  Priest, 
one  who  has  been  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  yet 
without  sin ;  one  who  cannot  be  deceived,  but  looks  into 
the  heart,  and  when  He  gives  us  peace,  g-ives  it  to  us  with 
a  full  knowledge  of  our  condition,  and  with  a  divine  power 
of- making  it  good  in  the  courts  of  Heaven.  ''Let  us 
therefore  come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace,"  are  the 
concluding  words  of  the  Apostle,  "that  we  may  obtain 
mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need."  1 

And  as  with  the  bitterness  of  the  heart,  so  with  its  joys. 
How  much  are  they  increased,  when  they  can  be  partaken 
of  with  one  who  feels  with  us,  and  is  in  harmony  with  our 
spirit !  This  makes  up  all  the  endearment  of  family  rela- 
tionship: but  in  this  world,  even  at  the  very  best,  where 
there  is  true  love  and  genuine  affection,  there  is  much,  in 
the  very  current  of  life,  to  interrupt  the  joys  even  of  the 
purest  kind.  The  curse  stains  every  thing ;  its  slime  is 
upon  every  state  of  life ;  and  strangers  can  intermeddle 
even  with  the  highest  condition  of  human  happiness,  un- 
less it  be  that  hidden  joy  which  can  exist  between  God 
and  the  soul.  That  alone  gives  unalloyed  pleasure.  Every 
other  tie  may  be  tampered  with ;  every  other  relationship 
of  life  may  be  marred  by  scandal  and  calumny  and  jealousy 
1  S.  3Iatt.  xi.  28.  »  Heb.  iv.  16. 


438    The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness. 

and  intermeddling:  but  no  one  can  come  where  the  true 
joy  of  divine  love  is,  and  do  us  any  mischief.  Those  joys 
raise  us  above  the  earth,  and  make  us  independent  of  man 
and  the  world.  As  one  of  our  Hymns 1  beautifully  ex- 
presses it :  — 

A  bleeding  Saviour,  seen  by  faith, 

A  sense  of  pardoning  love, 
A  hope  that  triumphs  over  death, 

Give  joys  like  those  above. 

How  many  lessons  we  are  called  upon  to  learn,  my  be- 
loved people,  from  this  condition  of  loneliness  under  which 
the  curse  has  necessarily  placed  us  !  And  one  of  the  most 
important  is  a  lesson  of  charity  towards  our  fellow-crea- 
tures. How  little  do  we  know  of  any  one's  real  trials  and 
sufferings !  How  little  are  we  prepared  to  enter  into  any 
one's  position  in  the  world.  We  walk  among  men  in  total 
ignorance  of  them.  We  judge  them  by  appearances.  We 
condemn  them,  knowing  nothing  of  their  temptations.  We 
solace  ourselves  with  thinking  how  much  better  we  are 
than  they ;  when  alas  !  their  bitterness,  which  is  known  to 
God  and  against  which  they  may  have  struggled  long  and 
manfully,  may  place  them  far  above  us,  who  have  had  no 
struggle  and  but  little  temptation.  It  is  said  of  a  clergy- 
man of  some  notoriety  who  did  not  always  control  his  tem- 
per, that  upon  one  occasion,  when  reproved  by  a  friend  for 
an  ebullition  of  this  kind,  his  answer  was  :  "  Sir,  I  thank 
you  for  your  reproof ;  but  I  have  conquered  more  temper 
than  you  ever  had."  This  man  knew  and  felt  the  bitter- 
ness of  his  heart,  and  God  may  have  seen  in  him  a  struggle 
which  was  manful  and  true,  and  which  placed  him  far  above 
one  who  judged  him  while  he  had  had  no  struggle  at  all. 
How  Christ  struck  directly  at  this  tendency  of  human  na- 
ture !  "  Judge  not,  and  ye  shall  not  be  judged  :  condemn 
not,  and  ye  shall  not  be  condemned."  2    It  was  one  of  the 

1  Hymn  148.  2  S.  Luke  vi.  37. 


The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness.  439 

first  lessons  He  taught  His  disciples ;  and  it  is  one  of  the 
first  lessons  that  every  Christian  should  learn.  We  are  too 
short-sighted  and  too  prejudiced  to  sit  in  judgment,  even 
though  we  were  certain  that  we  knew  perfectly  the  facts 
upon  which  we  formed  our  judgments  :  but  when  we  really 
are  so  ignorant  of  every  one's  inner  life,  of  his  troubles 
and  trials,  his  temptations  and  embarrassments,  we  should 
shrink  from  all  judgment,  and  cover  over  with  the  mantle 
of  charity  those  things  which  may  strike  us  as  strange  and 
improper.  As  one  has  beautifully  said :  "  God  has  been 
kind  enough  to  veil  our  infirmities  from  others ;  let  us  be 
equally  careful  to  veil  the  infirmities  of  our  brethren  from 
every  human  eye." 

Another  lesson  which  it  teaches  us  is,  that  we  should 
deal  gently  with  our  fellow-creatures,  and  banish  harshness, 
as  entirely  as  we  can,  from  our  manners  and  our  language. 
We  know  not  the  bitterness  that  may  be  resting  upon  the 
heart  of  any  creature  we  may  chance  to  meet  or  be  con- 
cerned with.  Kind  words,  a  cheering  smile,  tender  sympa- 
thy, a  gentle  tone,  may  often  produce  effects  upon  the  hu- 
man heart  far  beyond  what  might  be  reckoned  as  their  real 
value,  and  do  good  not  only  for  time  but  for  eternity.  We 
should  always  keep  resting  on  our  memories  the  many, 
many  moments  when  a  kind  word  would  have  cheered  us ; 
when  a  tone  of  sympathy  would  have  sunk  deep  down  into 
our  hearts ;  when  encouragement  would  have  sustained  us, 
and  harshness  have  driven  us  to  despair.  The  course  of 
life  is  hard  and  harsh  enough  without  our  adding  any  thing 
to  its  roughness.  The  evils  of  life  are  too  many  and  too 
heart-rending  for  us  to  accumulate  them  either  in  number 
or  in  sharpness.  Our  task  should  be  to  imitate  Jesus  in 
His  love  and  gentleness ;  to  go  about  doing  good ;  to  give 
to  the  world  beauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning ; 
the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness.  Leave 


440    The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness, 

harshness  and  severe  judgment  to  the  world.  Let  the 
Church,  and  those  who  call  themselves  the  children  of 
God,  utter  words  of  hope  and  peace  for  the  worn  and 
weary  children  of  sin  and  unrest.  "  Good  will  towards 
men,"  was  a  part  of  the  Angels'  song  when  they  an- 
nounced the  birth  of  Jesus ;  and  let  us  keep  the  motto 
upon  our  hearts,  and  illustrate  it  in  our  lives  and  con- 
versation. 

Another  lesson  of  our  text  comes  nearer  home,  and 
should  be  learned  for  our  own  comfort  in  life.  "  The 
heart,"  says  our  text,  "  knoweth  his  own  bitterness,  and  a 
stranger  doth  not  intermeddle  with  his  joy."  We  may 
have  to  live  very  much  alone  in  this  world,  and  some  of 
you  may  have  bitterness  almost  more  than  you  can  bear. 
Remember  Christ.  Do  not  attempt  to  carry  your  sorrows 
or  your  joys  alone.  If  you  do,  Satan  will  most  certainly 
tempt  you  in  some  shape  or  other.  He  will  stir  up  discon- 
tent with  your  lot  in  your  heart ;  or  he  will  incite  you  to 
harshness  and  ill  will  against  the  world ;  or  he  may  drive 
you  to  despair  and  hopelessness.  Or,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  joy  with  which  a  stranger  doth  not  intermeddle  may 
make  you  selfish  and  egoistic ;  may  seduce  you  to  morbid- 
ness and  neglect  of  duty.  However  your  bitterness  or  your 
joy  may  be  or  must  be  necessarily  secret  from  the  world, 
let  it  not  be  partaken  of  without  the  constant  presence  of 
Christ.  His  participation  of  it  will  very  much  relieve  your 
own  burden,  or  increase  your  own  happiness  ;  and  will  pre- 
serve it  from  impurity  or  excess.  Either  bitterness  or  joy 
which  is  obliged  to  be  kept  hidden  from  the  world  is  dan- 
gerous to  the  spirit ;  and  you  must  place  it  in  Christ's 
hands  for  regulation.  He  knows  all  through  His  divine 
Spirit  5  but  He  will  not  interfere,  unless  you  show  your 
confidence  in  Him,  and  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace. 
Be  not  afraid  of  Him.    He  is  not  come  to  judge  the  world, 


The  Heart  knoweth  his  own  Bitterness,  441 


to  save  the  world.  Although  He  knows  all,  yet  may  we 
in  the  tender  words  of  Keble  :  — 

"  Thou  know'st  our  bitterness  :  our  joys  are  thine  : 

No  stranger  Thou  to  all  our  wanderings  wild  : 
Nor  could  we  bear  to  think,  how  every  line 

Of  us,  Thy  darkened  likeness  and  defiled, 
Stands  in  full  sunshine  of  Thy  piercing  eye, 

But  that  Thou  call'st  us  Brethren.    Sweet  repose 
Is  in  that  word.    The  Lord  who  dwells  on  high 

Knows  all,  yet  loves  us  better  than  He  knows." 

1865. 


fortieth  ^evmon. 


Have  I  been  a  wilderness  unto  Israeli  a  land  of  darkness  1  — 
Jeremiah  ii.  31. 

"V\THY  is  it,  my  beloved  people,  that  Christianity  is  not 


*  *  more  willingly  embraced  by  the  intelligent  and  re- 
fined men  of  our  congregations,  and  enjoyed  as  one  of  the 
richest  blessings  of  God's  mercy  ?  Why  is  it,  that  so  many 
of  our  very  best  people,  looking  at  them  as  citizens,  should 
keep  so  entirely  aloof  from  the  ordinances  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  ?  One  would  think,  reasoning  a  priori  and  before 
considering  any  thing  contained  in  the  Revelation  itself, 
that  they  would  be  the  very  earliest  disciples  of  a  system  so 
clearly  intended  to  elevate  man  and  exalt  the  standard  of 
social  life ;  that  they  would  be  the  most  earnest  advocates 
of  a  philosophy  which  inculcated  the  practice  of  whatsoever 
things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  whatsoever 
things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever 
things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report. 
And  our  reasoning  would  be  right,  if  the  Revelation  of  God 
ended  with  that  philosophy.  It  fails  because,  over  and  above 
its  morals  and  its  social  blessings,  it  contains  a  doctrine  of 
spiritual  life  which  demands  a  regulation  of  the  inner  as 
well  as  of  the  outer  man ;  and  makes  us  acquainted  with 
supernatural  influences  coming  to  us  through  Persons  of 
the  Godhead,  of  whom  the  religion  of  Nature  and  of  Reason 
knows  nothing.  It  is  this  part  of  Christianity  which  the 
wise  and  the  learned  and  the  noble  find  it  so  hard  to  receive, 
and  which  the  Apostles  of  our  Lord  foretold  would  prove 


Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel?  443 

their  great  difficulty.  Every  thing  relating  to  domestic  wel- 
fare and  social  happiness  they  could  receive  and  value ;  but 
when  it  turned  to  spiritual  things,  to  the  sublime  topics 
which  alone  render  it  of  any  eternal  value,  they  ask  with 
Nicodemus  :  "  How  can  these  things  be  ?  "  and  they  reckon 
it  as  foolishness.  And  they  do  this,  not  because  they  do  not 
appreciate  the  influence  of  morals  and  even  of  religion,  — 
for  they  know  well  enough  what  a  mighty  instrument  even 
superstition  is,  when  it  is  wielded  by  society,  —  nor  because 
they  would  not  desire  for  themselves  the  possession  of  an 
interest  with  God,  provided  they  could  attain  it  by  any 
rational  process  :  but  because  they  are,  to  say  the  least, 
doubtful  about  the  truth  of  Revelation.  They  believe  in 
God  as  their  Creator  and  moral  governor  (none  but  a  fool 
says  in  his  heart,  "  There  is  no  God  ") ;  they  believe,  for 
the  most  part,  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  in  a 
future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  :  but  they  have 
not  yet  come  to  any  decision  upon  the  Revelation  of  God. 
They  are  not  willing  entirely  to  reject  the  Scriptures,  for 
the  teachings  of  their  childhood,  and  the  sacred  memory 
of  a  father's  love  and  a  mother's  tenderness,  are  forever 
associated  with  them :  and  yet  they  are  not  prepared  to 
subscribe  to  those  doctrines  of  Atonement  and  Regenera- 
tion and  spiritual  influences  which  stand  connected  with 
the  Persons  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  are 
not  willing  to  admit  that  they  have  rejected  these  truths 
of  Revelation.  They  still  acknowledge  them,  in  a  sort  of 
Ecclesiastical  way,  and  use  every  Sunday  a  Service  which 
affirms  and  teaches  them  ;  but  they  are  not  ready  to  take 
any  step  which  would  place  themselves  in  close  spiritual 
connection  with  them.  They  are  feeling  their  way,  many 
of  them,  cautiously  towards  Christianity,  and  are  watching 
to  see  whether  there  is  sufficient  ground  for  them  to  rest 
their  feet  upon  in  any  movement  towards  the  Altar  of  God. 


444    Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel? 

They  scorn  hypocrisy,  and  have  no  desire  to  place  them- 
selves among  the  mere  pretenders  to  spiritual  illumination. 
They  love  reality ;  and,  when  they  profess,  they  wish  to 
take  hold  of  Christ  and  His  religion  with  an  earnest  grasp, 
which  will  admit  no  doubt,  either  with  themselves  or  with 
others,  that  they  are  Christians  indeed. 

It  is  a  great  error  for  Christians  to  entertain  the  opinion, 
which  is  too  frequent  among  them,  that  men  who  seem 
careless  and  indifferent  about  Christianity  have  no  secret 
moments  of  reflection  and  religious  effort.  They  have  a 
great  many ;  and  they  are  looking  out  much  more  keenly 
than  Christians  think,  for  grounds  upon  which  to  form 
their  judgments  respecting  the  scheme  of  Christianity. 
The  external  proofs  of  its  being  a  Revelation  from  God 
they  admit  to  be  very  strong ;  and  those  proofs  cast  a  very 
unpleasant  doubtfulness  around  any  conclusions  they  may 
come  to  against  it.  They  cannot  satisfy  themselves  that  it 
is  an  imposture ;  and  yet  they  cannot  reconcile  themselves 
to  what  they  call  the  mysterious  spiritual  doctrines  of  the 
Revelation.  They  have  never  experienced  any  of  them ; 
and  they  are  doubtful  whether  anybody  else  has.  They  rea- 
son, and  they  reason  correctly,  that  such  a  doctrine  as  that 
of  Christ  should  have  a  most  vivid  effect  upon  the  affec- 
tions of  those  who  profess  it.  Its  declaration  is,  that  its 
aim  is  at  the  heart ;  that,  leaving  every  thing  else  to  be 
worked  upon  through  the  Spirit  from  this  central  point,  its 
object  is  to  bring  man's  spirit  at  once  into  subjection  to  the 
Spirit  of  God,  to  fill  it  with  faith  in  God,  —  a  faith  which 
shall  afterwards  work  by  love,  and  renovate  the  whole  na- 
ture. This  is  the  true  Christian  hypothesis ;  and  every  one 
who  names  the  Name  of  Christ  receives  Him  upon  this 
foot,  or  else  does  not  receive  Him  rightly.  Unless  this  is 
professed,  the  Christian  has  not  taken  hold  of  that  which  is 
the  distinct  spiritual  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  and 


Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel?  445 

which  the  natural  man  calls  foolishness.  And,  —  whatever 
these  keen  observers  and  critics  may  themselves  do  after- 
wards when  they  become  Christians,  —  for  the  present, 
they  hold  those  who  do  profess  Christianity  to  a  strict 
account  upon  this  very  point.  They  say  that  Christ  Him- 
self has  taught  that  "  where  the  treasure  is,  there  will  the 
heart  be  also ;  "  and  that  surely  there  is  no  greater  treas- 
ure than  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  and  the  hope  of  ever- 
lasting bliss  in  a  future  world.  They  look  to  see,  therefore, 
whether  the  profession  is  one  which  bears  out  this  very  just 
reasoning  ;  whether  the  heart  seems  to  be  really  concerned 
in  the  work ;  whether  the  affections  are  fixed  upon  those 
eternal  interests  which  are  wrapped  up  in  Christ.  And 
they  have  a  right,  my  beloved  people,  to  judge  us  by  this 
criterion ;  for  it  is  a  Scriptural  rule  of  judgment,  and  one 
of  which  we  should  be  enabled  to  bear  the  test.  The  world 
has  a  right  to  expect  to  see  Christians  deeply  interested  in 
religious  things,  to  find  them  earnest  in  all  that  concerns 
the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ ;  nay  more,  to 
find  religion  filling  their  hearts  as  a  satisfying  portion,  giv- 
ing them  comfort  in  affliction,  contentment  under  adverse 
circumstances,  peace  in  the  midst  of  perils,  hope  when 
thick  darkness  covers  the  people.  They  may  well  ask  how 
the  life  accords  with  the  profession,  how  the  effect  harmo- 
nizes with  the  promise,  when  they  perceive  Christians  evi- 
dently considering  their  profession  a  yoke  of  bondage,  its 
requirements  a  burden,  its  fruits  a  mere  myth,  its  hold 
upon  the  affections  subservient  to  every  thing  else.  The 
bright  promise  of  Christianity  for  this  life  is,  that  it  fur- 
nishes that  which  will  satisfy  an  undying  soul  and  immortal 
lives ;  that  it  gives,  what  the  world  cannot  and  does  not 
profess  to  give,  quiet  and  rest ;  that  it  supplies  a  want 
which  man  universally  feels,  yet  the  satisfaction  of  which 
he  cannot  find.    And  if  this  promise  is  not  fulfilled  in 


446    Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel? 

Christians,  how  can  men  of  the  world  be  expected  to  be 
attracted  towards  it?  What  have  they  to  gain  in  giving 
up  the  world,  if  they  are  not  to  receive  in  return  some 
treasure  for  the  heart  and  the  affections  ?  Man  does  not 
live  long  before  he  finds  out  that  happiness  consists  in  em- 
ploying the  mind  and  absorbing  the  affections ;  and  there- 
fore is  it  that  we  meet  him,  at  every  turn,  pursuing  some 
one  idea  to  the  exclusion  of  every  other,  filling  his  heart 
and  his  soul  with  it,  and  sacrificing  every  thing  in  its  pur- 
suit. No  matter  whether  it  be  an  object  which  the  world 
counts  honorable,  as  glory  ;  or  mean,  as  avarice  ;  or  trifling, 
as  pleasure :  the  principle  which  lies  at  the  bottom  is  the 
same.  It  is,  to  fill  the  soul  with  something ;  to  give  zest 
to  life,  which  would  otherwise  stagnate ;  to  give  employ- 
ment to  the  mind,  which  would  else  gnaw  upon  itself ;  to 
give  play  to  the  affections,  which  must  make  an  idol  of 
something.  If  he  could  be  convinced  that  religion  could 
give  him  a  satisfying  portion  of  the  soul,  there  is  many  a 
man  who  is  now  recklessly  plunging  through  life,  caressing 
objects  which  he  despises,  solicitous  only  to  get  rid  of  it, 
who  might  pause  and  seek  after  something  more  worthy 
the  absorption  of  infinite  affections.  But  every  thing  con- 
pires  to  make  him  despair :  his  own  heart  of  unbelief, 
the  unwearying  delusions  of  the  Devil,  and  —  last  though 
by  no  means  least  —  the  dishonor  which  Christians  do  their 
Master's  cause,  by  permitting  the  world  to  perceive  that 
their  Christian  profession  gives  their  hearts  no  ease,  and 
their  spirits  no  contentment.  How  many  who  grieve  over 
irreligious  fathers,  husbands,  brothers,  sons,  seem  to  be  un- 
aware that  they  are  helping  on  that  unbelief,  and  riveting 
upon  the  soul  the  motions  of  infidelity  and  the  temptations 
of  the  Devil ! 

Truly  may  God  ask  of  Christians  what  He  asked  of  His 
people  of  old,  through  his  prophet  Jeremiah :  "  Have  I  been 


Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel  t  447 


a  wilderness  unto  Israel  ?  a  land  of  darkness  ? ,5  Have  My 
redeemed  people  found  no  joy  in  Me,  no  light  in  My  pres- 
ence ?  Have  there  been  no  flowers  along  the  path  by  which 
I  have  led  them,  no  green  pastures,  no  still  waters  ?  Dur- 
ing the  toil  and  wearisomeness  of  life,  has  there  been  no 
bright  sunshine  upon  the  landscape,  no  sound  of  music  by 
the  way  ?  When  care  or  trouble  or  sorrow  has  pressed  up- 
on you,  has  no  ministering  spirit  been  near  you  to  lighten 
your  burden  and  alleviate  your  pain  ?  When  sickness  has 
brought  you  nigh  to  the  gates  of  death,  has  there  been  no 
spiritual  Physician  to  soothe  the  soul,  and  to  give  it  peace  ? 
When  the  days  of  darkness  have  brooded  over  the  soul,  and 
there  was  no  comfort  in  man  or  the  son  of  man,  has  no 
Comforter  come  to  thee  from  Him  who  promised,  "  I  will 
not  leave  thee  comfortless,  I  will  come  to  thee  "  ?  Has  no 
fresh  glory  come  from  Me,  making  the  grave  radiant  with 
the  presence  of  Angels,  and  forever  rolling  away  the  great 
stone  from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre?  And  are  ye  now 
weary  of  Me?  And  are  ye  saying  to  the  world,  by  actions 
if  not  by  word,  "  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  a  wilderness ;  the 
land  of  the  Lord  is  a  land  of  darkness  "  ?  "  Be  astonished, 
0  ye  heavens,  at  this,  and  be  horribly  afraid  ....  For  my 
people  have  committed  two  evils ;  they  have  forsaken  me 
the  fountain  of  living  waters,  and  hewed  them  out  cisterns, 
broken  cisterns,  that  can  hold  no  water."  1 

You  do  not  realize,  my  beloved  people,  how  much  dis- 
honor you  cast  upon  your  Lord,  how  much  suspicion  you 
bring  upon  yourselves,  by  finding  no  joy  in  your  Christian 
profession,  no  happiness  in  the  exercise  of  the  Christian  life. 
David's  declaration  was :  "  All  my  fresh  springs  shall  be  in 
thee."  2  His  fresh  springs, — the  water  that  was  to  satisfy 
his  loving  heart,  that  was  to  quench  his  immortal  thirst, 
that  was  to  refresh  him  when  he  was  weary,  that  was  to 
1  Jer.  ii.  12,  13.  2  psaim  ixxxvii.  7. 


448    Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel? 

give  him  new  life  when  he  was  spent,  —  all  flowed  from 
God.  The  world  and  its  waters  he  left  to  those  who  knew 
not  his  God ;  but  he  could  not  find  any  comfort  in  them. 
And  when  we  put  on  Christ,  my  beloved  people,  this  is  our 
declaration  :  that  He  is  the  source  of  all  our  true  joy,  that 
all  our  springs  are  in  Him,  and  from  Him  all  our  streams 
flow.  Why  then  should  our  practice  be  so  different  from 
our  profession  ?  Have  we  been  deceived  ?  Has  Christ  and 
His  love  been  a  wilderness  unto  us  ?  a  land  of  darkness  ? 
God  forbid !  We  may  not  have  enjoyed  religion  as  we 
should ;  we  may  have  permitted  pressing  temptation  to 
steal  away  our  hearts  from  Christ  for  a  little  while ;  we  may 
have  been  overwhelmed  with  cares  or  afflictions,  and  so 
the  deep  waters  may  have  gone  even  over  our  souls  :  but 
I  know  that  if  the  choice  were  given  you  now,  —  a  final 
choice,  a  choice  which  you  should  never  be  enabled  to 
alter,  between  Christ  and  the  world,  —  that  you  would  flee 
to  Christ,  and  hide  yourselves  in  Him.  Present  temptation 
must  not  be  confounded  with  permanent  decision,  —  a  tem- 
porary coldness  of  heart,  with  the  declaration  that  Christ's 
service  is  a  yoke  which  galls  and  frets  the  wearer  ! 

And  yet,  hopeful  as  I  trust  that  I  may  be,  I  must  warn 
you  against  the  very  appearance  of  evil.  When  a  Christian 
is  perceived  to  be  lukewarm  in  all  that  concerns  religion, 
and  yet  earnest  and  busy  about  every  thing  else  ;  inatten- 
tive to  the  public  duties  of  the  Church  save  when  it  is  en- 
tirely convenient  or  agreeable,  yet  ready  to  be  present  at 
every  occasion  of  civil  interest ;  finding  no  time  to  read  his 
Bible  or  say  his  prayers,  yet  finding  abundant  leisure  for 
novels  or  newspapers  or  magazines ;  asking  nothing  about 
the  warfare  which  is  waging  in  heathen  lands  against  the 
enemies  of  Christ's  kingdom,  yet,  like  the  Athenians,  seek- 
ing everywhere  for  some  new  thing  concerning  the  war- 
fare which  is  waging  nearer  home  :  to  such  an  one  I  must 


Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel?  449 

put  the  question,  011  God's  part :  "  Have  I  been  a  wilder- 
ness unto  Israel  ?  a  land  of  darkness  ?  "  Is  there  nothing 
to  interest  an  immortal  creature,  in  spiritual  things  ? 
nothing  to  occupy  the  attention  of  a  Christian  pilgrim, 
in  the  wondrous  things  of  God's  Law?  Must  he  run  to 
the  world  for  ail  his  pleasures,  and  come  to  Christ  only  on 
Sundays,  and  even  then  only  when  he  can  find  no  excuse 
to  keep  away  ?  Is  there  no  life  in  Christianity  for  you,  no 
reality  of  joy,  of  hope,  of  divine  meditation  ?  Beware,  my 
hearer,  lest  you  not  only  wreck  yourself,  but  become  the 
cause  by  which  others  shall  be  kept  from  Christ  and  His 
salvation  !  The  judgment  which  has  been  recorded  against 
a  lukewarm  Church,  is  recorded  likewise  against  a  luke- 
warm Christian  :  "  Because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither 
cold  nor  hot,  I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth."  1  What 
utter  loathing  this  expresses  upon  the  part  of  Christ ! 
What  danger  it  insinuates  upon  yours  !  To  be  spued  out 
of  Christ's  mouth,  and  that  for  no  striking  or  positive  sin, 
for  no  flagrant  act  of  irreligion,  but  simply  for  being  luke- 
warm, indifferent  about  spiritual  things  !  How  many  there 
are  who  think  no  harm  of  this ;  who  satisfy  themselves 
with  the  position  that  they  are  doing  nothing  to  disgrace 
their  Christianity,  even  while  they  are  doing  nothing  to 
manifest  it !  A  more  hateful  state  of  feeling  there  is  not 
in  the  whole  circle  of  Christian  experience,  for  it  argues 
the  absence  of  almost  every  Christian  grace.  There  can  be 
no  faith,  where  there  is  such  a  spirit ;  no  humility,  no  hope. 
It  presents  one  flat  expanse  of  utter  indifference.  Any 
thing  is  better  than  it ;  —  heat  or  cold,  burning  zeal  or  utter 
deadness :  but  this  dilettanteism  Christ  utterly  repudiates. 
Its  basis  is  selfishness  ;  its  superstructure  is  conceit. 

Oh,  my  people,  let  me  beseech  you  to  rid  yourselves  of 
this  reproach.    Let  it  not  be  said  of  you,  "  God  has  been 

1  Eev.  iii.  16. 

29 


45 o    Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel  ? 

a  wilderness  to  this  people,  a  land  of  darkness."  God  in 
Christ,  a  wilderness  ?  what  an  utter  contradiction  of  all  the 
promises  of  the  Bible,  of  all  the  experience  of  God's  saints  ! 
Long  before  Christ  came,  the  Prophets  were  heralding 
His  coming,  upon  the  very  ground  that  He  would  make 
the  wilderness  of  the  world  (for  In  the  Bible  it  is  the  world 
that  is  the  wilderness)  a  place  of  gladness.  One  of  them 
announced  it  as  a  new  and  wonderful  thing :  "  Behold,  I 
will  do  a  new  thing,"  saith  the  Lord ;  "  now  it  shall  spring 
forth ;  ....  I  will  even  make  a  way  in  the  wilderness, 
and  rivers  in  the  desert.  The  beast  of  the  field  shall  honor 
me,  the  dragons  and  the  owls  :  because  I  give  waters  in  the 
wilderness,  and  rivers  in  the  desert,  to  give  drink  to  my; 
people,  my  chosen." 1  And  the  effects  of  that  new  thing 
were  to  be,  that  "  The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place 
shall  be  glad  for  them;  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice,  and 
blossom  as  the  rose.  It  shall  blossom  abundantly,  and  re- 
joice even  with  joy  and  singing."2  And  when  the  Lord 
would  comfort  His  people,  this  was  to  be  their  comfort : 
"  For  the  Lord  shall  comfort  Zion  :  he  will  comfort  all  her 
waste  places  ;  and  he  will  make  her  wilderness  like  Eden, 
and  her  desert  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord  ;  joy  and 
gladness  shall  be  found  therein,  thanksgiving,  and  the  voice 
of  melody."  3  Ah !  my  people,  if  you  find  God  a  wilderness, 
then  is  there  no  hope  for  you,  for  you  shall  have  turned  the 
source  of  all  earthly  consolation  into  bitterness  and  a  curse  ! 
The  glory  of  Christ  was  to  be,  that  "  a  man  shall  be  as  an 
hiding  place  from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the  tempest ; 
as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  as  the  shadow  of  a  great 
rock  in  a  weary  land  :  "  4  and  you  find  Him  a  wilderness  ?  I 
fear  me  that  you  know  not  the  spirit  you  are  of ;  and  that 
you  have  a  name  to  live,  while  you  are  dead ! 

i  Isaiah  xliii.  19,  20.  2  Ibid.  xxxv.  1,  2. 

8  Ibid.  li.  3.  *  Ibid,  xxxii.  2. 


Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  tinto  Israel  ?    45 1 

How  sad  that  it  should  ever  be  intimated  of  any  people, 
that  God  was  a  land  of  darkness  unto  them  !  Why,  the 
very  object  of  coming  to  Christ  was  to  get  into  a  land  of 
light.  "  If  therefore  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness, 
how  great  is  that  darkness  !  " 1  Light  is  everywhere,  in  the 
Bible,  the  effect  of  God's  presence,  the  glory  of  Christ's 
Advent.  In  the  beginning  God  said  :  "  Let  there  be  light : 
and  there  was  light."  2  In  the  fullness  of  times  He  said 
again,  "  Let  there  be  light :  "  and  Christ  rose  upon  the  na- 
tions as  the  Light  of  the  world.  And  when  He  was  come 
to  scatter  the  gross  darkness  which  covered  the  people,  al- 
most the  very  first  utterance  which  He  made  to  His  disci- 
ples was  :  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world."  The  light  of 
the  world,  and  yet  a  darkness  unto  yourselves  !  What  a 
contradiction  in  terms  !  Our  profession  is,  and  the  world 
knows  it,  —  for  the  Devil  makes  the  world  read  the  Bible, 
when  that  reading  is  done  in  an  evil  spirit,  —  "  For  God, 
who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath 
shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  3  Can  this 
be  true,  and  yet  no  light  flow  out  from  you  upon  the 
world?  no  light  kindle  within  you  to  cheer  yourself? 

How  terrible  it  is,  as  Job  says,  to  "  meet  with  darkness  in 
the  daytime,  and  grope  in  the  noon-day  as  in  the  night."  4 
We  hoped  for  thee  that  even  the  sun  was  no  more  thy  light 
by  day,  but  that  the  Lord  was  "  unto  thee  an  everlasting 
light,  and  thy  God  thy  glory : " 5  but,  instead  of  this,  the 
world  sees  you  groping  "  for  the  wall  like  the  blind,"  and 
groping  as  if  you  "  had  no  eyes  " :  stumbling  "  at  noon-day 
as  in  the  night."  6  And  you  were  forewarned  of  all  this  by 
Prophets  and  Apostles.  Jeremiah  said,  in  tones  of  deep 
warning :  "  Give  glory  to  the  Lord  your  God,  before  he 

1  S.  Matthew  vi.  23.  2  Gen.  i.  3.  3  2  Cor.  iv.  6. 

4  Job  v.  14.  5  Isaiah  lxi>  19<  6  Ibid>  Ux#  10. 


452    Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel? 

cause  darkness,  and  before  your  feet  stumble  upon  the  dark 
mountains,  and,  while  ye  look  for  light,  he  turn  it  into  the 
shadow  of  death,  and  make  it  gross  darkness." 1  And  S. 
John  reechoed  the  warning :  "  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them, 
Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light  with  you.  Walk  while  ye  have 
the  light,  lest  darkness  come  upon  you.  .  .  .  While  ye  have 
light,  believe  in  the  light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of 
light."  2  Christ's  people  have  nothing  to  do  with  wilder- 
nesses and  with  darkness.  Their  profession  is  one  of  rich 
rejoicing.  Their  path  is  to  shine  "  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect  day."  3 

Art  thou  in  the  wilderness,  my  heart  ?  Fear  not,  even 
there ;  for,  if  you  search,  you  may  find  God.  It  is  there 
that  God  sometimes  leads  His  people,  to  plead  with  them. 
"  And  I  will  bring  you  into  the  wilderness  of  the  people, 
and  there  will  I  plead  with  you  face  to  face." 4  Do  you  feel 
dissatisfied  with  your  spiritual  state,  even  while  you  mingle 
with  the  world  ?  It  is  God  pleading  with  you  face  to  face. 
Are  you  harassed  and  careworn  in  your  service  of  the 
world  r>  It  is  God  pleading  with  you  face  to  face.  Do  you 
find  no  satisfaction  in  life,  even  after  you  have  reached  the 
summit  of  your  wishes  ?  It  is  God  pleading  with  you  face 
to  face.  Are  you  afflicted  in  the  land  of  your  captivity? 
It  is  God  pleading  with  you  face  to  face.  He  is  asking 
you :  "  Have  I  been  a  wilderness  unto  Israel  ?  a  land  of 
darkness  ?  "  Hear  Him  when  He  pleads  !  God  will  not  be 
trifled  with  by  His  covenant  people.  "  And  that  which 
cometh  into  your  mind  shall  not  be  at  all,  that  ye  say,  We 
will  be  as  the  heathen,  as  the  families  of  the  countries,  to 
serve  wood  and  stone.  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  surely 
with  a  mighty  hand,  and  with  a  stretched-out  arm,  and  with 
fury  poured  out,  will  I  rule  over  you.  .  .  .  And  I  will  cause 

i  Jeremiah  xiii.  16.  2  S.  John  xii.  35,  36. 

3  Prov.  iv.  18.  4  Ezek.  xx.  35. 


Have  I  been  a  Wilderness  unto  Israel?  453 

you  to  pass  under  the  rod,  and  I  will  bring  you  into  the 
bond  of  the  covenant."  1  Beware  of  that  rod !  It  is  a  fear- 
ful thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God  !  "  And  if 
thou  say  in  thine  heart,  Wherefore  come  these  things 
upon  me  ?  "  the  answer  will  be,  unless  you  repent  and  turn 
from  the  error  of  your  ways  :  "  This  is  thy  lot,  the  portion 
of  thy  measures  from  me,  saith  the  Lord  ;  because  thou 
hast  forgotten  me,  and  trusted  in  falsehood."  2 

June  16,  1861. 
1  Ezek.  xx.  32,  33,  37.  2  Jer.  xiii.  22,  25. 


tfort^fittft  Sermon. 


God  is  love ;  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God,  and 
God  in  him.  — i  S.  John  iv.  16. 


HENEVER  the  Ministers  of  Christ  turn  aside  from 


?  "  the  rich  promises  and  glorious  hopes  of  the  Gospel,  to 
speak  of  the  awful  threatenings  which  overhang  its  rejec- 
tion, and  the  severe  penalties  which  await  those  who  despise 
its  mercy,  the  benevolent  and  the  sentimental  and  the  im- 
penitent and  the  unbelieving  at  once  take  shelter,  all  of 
them,  however  much  they  may  differ  from  each  other  in 
various  particulars,  under  the  declaration  of  our  text,  that 
"  God  is  love  :  "  without  any  analysis  of  what  love  is,  in  the 
sense  in  which  it  is  used  in  the  Scriptures;  without  any 
comparison  of  this  naked  phrase  with  other  declarations  of 
the  Bible,  which  must  limit  and  restrain  it,  being  of  equal 
authority  with  it ;  without  any  consideration  that  the  prop- 
osition may  be  literally  true  in  its  most  unlimited  extent, 
and  yet  not  true  at  all  in  the  sense  in  which  they  interpret 
it.  They  all  deem  it  a  sufficient  answer  to  any  appeals  which 
may  be  made  to  them  upon  the  scope  of  God's  present 
anger  and  of  His  impending  wrath.  How  far  these  parties 
may  put  any  real  trust  in  this  position,  it  is  not  for  me  to 
determine.  So  long  as  it  is  advanced  and  made  a  refuge 
against  the  terrors  of  the  world  to  come,  it  must  be  treated 
as  if  it  was  believed  and  trusted  in ;  and  must  be  met  with 
such  a  reply  as  shall  at  least  satisfy  the  ambassador  for 
Christ  that  he  has  declared  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  and 


God  is  Love. 


455 


delivered  bis  own  soul.  More  than  this  it  is  not  in  his 
power  to  do.  The  hearing  ear  and  the  understanding 
heart  must  come  from  a  higher  source.  Paul  can  plant, 
and  Apollos  can  water:  hut  God  alone  can  give  the  in- 
crease. 

In  discussing  a  point  like  this,  every  fair  mind  must  at 
once  perceive  that  the  argument  must  proceed  upon  things 
as  we  find  them.  The  character  of  God  must  be  deter- 
mined from  what  we  can  learn  of  it  in  the  workings  of  the 
world,  and  from  what  has  been  revealed  to  us  in  His  in- 
spired Word,  —  that  Word  which  contains  the  proposition 
"God  is  love,",  on  which  their  hope  is  based.  These  are 
the  only  sources  from  which  we  can  know  any  thing  of  God. 
If  we  cannot  find  His  character  in  these,  we  have  no  right 
to  say  that  "  God  is  love,"  or  that  "  God  is  not  love."  In 
that  case  we  can  only  with  honesty  say,  "  I  know  nothing 
of  the  Gods  or  of  their  character :  they  have  not  spoken  to 
me."  To  say,  therefore,  that  this  or  that  is  the  character 
of  God,  because,  in  your  opinion,  such  ought  to  be  His 
character,  is  to  substitute  your  ideal  in  the  place  of  truth ; 
is  to  make  your  hopes  and  your  desires  the  standard  of 
God's  revelation  of  Himself.  In  this  matter,  if  in  any,  you 
should  subject  your  reasoning  to  the  severest  scrutiny ;  for 
a  mistake  in  it  is  of  vital,  because  everlasting,  importance. 
When  you  hide  yourself,  my  hearer,  under  the  wings  of 
God's  mercy,  crying  out  that  "  God  is  love,"  you  should  be, 
above  all  things,  certain  that  you  are  not  abusing  the 
most  precious  and  glorious  of  His  attributes. 

We  all  agree  in  the  proposition  which  forms  the  text, 
that  "  God  is  love,"  because  with  you  it  is  the  foundation 
of  your  hopes  ;  with  me,  it  is  a  truth  of  Revelation.  The 
point  for  discussion  between  us  is,  "  What  is  the  meaning 
of  the  expression  ?  "  How  far  does  it  permit  you  to  rely 
upon  it  as  a  ground  of  safety  irrespective  of  the  conditions 


456  God  is  Love. 

of  the  Gospel  ?  This  is  the  question  which  should  be  de- 
termined; and  determined  not  according  to  your  fancy  or 
your  desire,  but  according  to  the  truth  of  things  as  they 
are,  and  as  they  shall  be.  Only  upon  such  a  determination 
of  this  question  should  a  man  of  sense  permit  himself  to 
be  at  ease;  for  the  time  must  inevitably  come  when  nothing 
but  truth  can  stand,  —  when  all  refuges  of  lies  must  be 
swept  away  before  the  clear  exhibition  of  the  character  of 
God  in  the  day  of  His  manifestation.  u  To  the  law,"  then, 
"  and  to  the  testimony." 

The  first  thing  which  strikes  us  in  considering  the  char- 
acter of  God  as  shown  to  us  from  the  sources  whence  alone 
we  can  derive  our  knowledge  of  Him,  is,  that  His  "  love  is 
never  synonymous  with  weakness."  Through  whatever 
channel  it  may  be  manifested,  it  is  invariably  connected 
with  a  strict  regard  to  justice  and  holiness.  In  the  consti- 
tution and  course  of  Nature  we  see  this  as  plainly  mani- 
fested as  in  the  Book  of  Revelation.  Very  much  around  us 
and  within  us  speaks  to  us  of  the  love  of  God ;  but  at  the 
same  time  there  is  mingled  with  those  accents  of  Divine 
affection,  a  stern  adherence  to  the  laws  of  an  immutable 
morality,  which  indicates  that  it  is  the  love,  not  of  a  weak, 
but  of  a  wise,  and  therefore  of  a  firm  Parent.  Vice,  im- 
prudence, folly,  are  permitted  by  this  God  of  love  to  work 
out  their  inevitable  consequences;  and  His  creatures  never 
find  in  Him,  under  His  visible  government  of  man  in  society, 
any  such  weakness  as  shall  tempt  them  to  a  repetition  of 
their  sins  through  any  vain  dependence  upon  His  forgiving 
love.  They  may  and  often  do  repeat  them, — just  as  a 
poor  silly  moth  may  fly  a  second  time  into  the  flame  that 
has  already  singed  its  wings  ;  but  with  the  sure  conscious- 
ness that  their  sin  or  their  folly  will  find  them  out.  No 
Divine  intervention  ever  conies,  that  we  can  see,  between 
God's  creatures  and  their  violation  of  His  moral  law ;  those 


God  is  Love. 


457 


creatures  for  whom  He  has  so  lovingly  decked  this  beautiful 
creation,  and  upon  whom  he  has  lavished  so  much  of  ex- 
quisite ornament  that  was  not  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
purposes  of  life.  "We  must  be  willfully  blind  not  to  perceive 
how  very  much  of  consistent  and  unswerving  law  is  mingled 
with  the  love  which  governs  the  world ;  how  entirely  the 
Divine  Benevolence  is  made  dependent,  in  a  natural  way, 
upon  the  character  of  our  own  lives  :  nay  more,  that  no 
sentiment  of  love,  on  the  part  of  God,  ever  intervenes  to 
check  the  course  of  the  moral  law,  even  though  it  descend 
upon  children  and  children's  children  until  it  has  worked 
out  its  natural,  and  therefore  Divine,  punishment.  So  far 
from  there  being  any  countenance,  under  God's  natural 
government  of  the  world,  to  the  proposition  that  "  God  is 
love,"  in  the  sense  of  a  Being  who  is  too  kind  and  benevo- 
lent to  punish  :  nothing  seems  to  me  to  give  a  more  terri- 
ble and  alarming  idea  of  the  nature  of  that  love,  than  what 
we  see  of  it  in  our  experience  of  life.  If  we  would  only 
remember  that  the  moral  government  of  the  world  is  under 
the  guidance  and  direction  of  this  a  God,"  who  as  we  say, 
and  say  truly,  "is  love,"  and  then  observe  thoughtfully  the 
working  of  that  moral  government,  we  should  very  soon  be 
satisfied  that  the  love  of  God  is  a  very  different  thing  from 
what  men  vainly  fancy  it  to  be  ;  nay,  that  it  had  in  it 
elements  very  different  from  the  passion  which  leads  us  so 
continually  to  overwhelm  with  its  burning  and  reckless  tor- 
rent all  justice  and  all  principle. 

If  we  turn  from  a  consideration  of  the  love  of  God  as 
developed  in  the  world  around  us,  to  that  image  of  it  which 
we  find  reflected  in  our  own  natures,  we  are  brought  to  the 
same  conclusion.  We  ourselves  make  a  broad  distinction, 
in  the  judgments  which  we  pass  upon  others,  between 
love  and  weakness  ;  and  thus  vindicate  the  true  charac- 
ter of  God.    We  speak,  every  day,  of  the  foolish  affection 


458 


God  is  Love. 


of  parents,  of  the  improper  indulgences  in  which  they 
allow  their  children,  of  the  weakness  which  they  display 
in  overlooking  and  forgiving  their  faults;  and  foretell, 
with  sure  certainty,  the  consequences  of  such  conduct.  We 
discriminate  very  clearly,  especially  when  the  case  is  not 
our  own,  hetween  that  which  is  truly  love  and  that  which 
is  merely  passion.  And  yet  what  we  condemn  through  our 
natural  sense  of  propriety  in  our  fellow-creatures,  because 
we  perceive  its  present  foolishness  and  its  inevitable  conse- 
quences, we  transfer  without  any  scruple  to  God,  as  His 
characteristic,  and  depend  upon  it  for  our  future  destiny. 
The  love  which  we  acknowledge  to  be  of  all  things  the 
most  injurious  to  those  upon  whom  it  is  lavished,  which 
our  experience  tells  us  ends  almost  invariably  in  the  moral 
destruction  of  its  victims,  we  conclude  to  be  the  love  which 
the  all-wise  God  has  selected  as  His  chief  attribute,  and 
which  He  wields  as  the  moral  Governor  of  the  universe. 
We  make  God  as  weak  as  the  most  foolish  and  indulgent 
mother,  just  because  it  suits  our  sentiment  or  our  neces- 
ity ;  and  are  not  ashamed,  as  men  of  sense,  to  look  such  an 
argument  in  the  face.  How  absurd,  as  if  any  government 
could  be  carried  on  upon  such  a  system,  much  less  the 
government  of  an  Universe ! 

Let  us  now  pass  on  to  the  dealings  of  this  God  with  His 
Old  Testament  Saints  and  with  His  elect  People,  and  learn 
whether  there  is  any  more  indication  of  a  love  which  has 
no  firmness  in  His  dealings  with  them,  than  we  have  found 
elsewhere.  We  cannot  read  the  truthful  narrative  which 
we  find  in  the  Old  Testament  without  observing  the  un- 
changing love  which  God  had  for  them ;  the  miracles  which 
He  worked  in  their  behalf ;  the  tenderness  with  which  He 
watched  over  them ;  the  fury  with  which  He  turned  upon 
their  enemies  :  nor,  at  the  same  time,  without  likewise  ob- 
serving the  undeviating  rigor  with  which  He  insisted  upon 


God  is  Love, 


459 


obedience  and  faithfulness,  and  the  unsparing  rod  with 
which  He  chastised  their  waywardness.  They  were  the 
people  of  His  love ;  but  that  love  had  in  it  no  signs  of 
weakness.  And  as  with  the  Nation,  so  with  the  individual 
Saints.  Those  most  honored  and  favored  with  His  love 
never  found  that  love  blinding  Him  to  their  faults,  nor  pass- 
ing over  their  delinquencies.  The  Moses,  whom  He  spake 
with  face  to  face,  whom  He  considered  as  the  Prophet  next 
in  honor  to  His  own  Son,  He  would  not  permit  to  enter  the 
promised  land,  because  he  had  committed  what  we  should 
be  apt  to  call  a  very  trivial  offence.  David,  the  man  after 
His  own  heart,  whom  He  had  raised  from  the  sheep-cote  to 
the  throne,  He  punished  with  a  most  terrible  succession  of 
chastisements,  so  soon  as  he  sinned  against  His  law.  Love 
we  find  everywhere;  but  always  bearing  the  like  charac- 
teristics of  firmness  and  principle,  of  adherence  to  justice 
and  holiness. 

Let  us  come  now  to  the  New  Testament,  and  examine 
the  character  of  God's  love  as  displayed  in  the  great  mys- 
tery of  godliness.  According  to  Revelation,  the  second  Per- 
son of  the  adorable  Trinity  was  the  Only-begotten  Son  of 
His  Father,  the  brightness  of  His  glory  and  the  express 
image  of  His  Person.  This  Son  covenanted  to  take  upon 
Him  the  sins  of  men ;  to  be  the  Lamb  that  should  be 
offered  up  in  sacrifice  for  those  sins.  In  such  a  case  as 
this,  how  did  God's  love  manifest  itself?  —  the  love  of  this 
God  from  whom  you  are  expecting  a  free  pardon  because  of 
the  tenderness  of  His  Nature.  Precisely  as  it  manifested 
itself  in  all  the  examples  we  have  given  you  of  it.  He  ac- 
cepted the  Sacrifice,  as  you  see  before  you  this  morning :  1 
but  did  not  abate  one  jot  or  one  tittle  of  the  full  demands 
of  justice ;  did  not  relieve  His  own  Son  from  any  of  the 
punishment  of  sin ;  but  passed  Him  through  all  the  humil- 

1  Referring  to  the  Holy  Communion,  for  which  the  Altar  was  spread. 


460 


God  is  Love, 


iation  and  shame  and  suffering  which  belonged  to  the  place 
He  had  assumed.  Although  that  Son  appealed  to  Him : 
"  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  " ; 
although  He  cried  in  the  depth  of  His  anguish,  as  His 
Father  hid  His  face  from  Him :  "  My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  He  was  unmoved  until  the  last 
farthing  which  man  owed  for  sin  was  paid  !  Here  was 
love,  — love  for  the  human  family,  love  for  His  Only-begot- 
ten Son  :  but  still  that  same  unyielding  firmness  which 
recognized  not  that  love  unless  it  harmonized  with  the 
other  attributes  of  His  Divine  character ;  unless  it  cast  no 
shadow  over  the  glory  of  His  perfectness. 

The  next  feature  in  this  love  of  God  as  we  see  it  in  all  its 
manifestations,  is,  that  it  never  winks  at  sin.  This  has 
been,  in  some  measure,  mingled  with  the  point  we  have  just 
discussed,  but  deserves  nevertheless  a  separate  considera- 
tion. When  you  trust  to  the  declaration  that  "  God  is 
love,"  your  meaning  evidently  is,  that  He  is  so  tender  and 
merciful  that  He  will  overlook  sin :  for  you  cannot  mean, 
of  course,  that  you  have  never  sinned.  But  you  have  no 
more  reason  for  this  idea  than  for  the  one  which  con- 
founded love  with  weakness.  The  way  of  transgressors  is 
hard,  even  in  a  world  where  there  is  a  fellow-feeling  for 
them ;  and  disease  and  pain  and  death  and  an  evil  conscience 
all  bear  witness  that  the  love  of  God  is  no  impediment  to 
the  natural  punishment  of  sin.  In  the  world  there  is  sin 
unspeakable  and  all-devouring ;  and  there  is,  along  with  it, 
a  horrid  train  of  evil  which  proves  that  God  hates  it  and 
perpetually  punishes  it.  Besides  the  common  and  ordinary 
mischiefs  which  sin  has  introduced,  —  so  common  and  or- 
dinary that  we  forget,  in  their  universality  and  regularity, 
that  they  are  punishments,  —  there  are  others,  such  as  war, 
pestilence,  famine,  oppression,  which  sweep  the  earth  with 
their  train  of  horrors :  punishments  for  sin,  —  God's  voices 


God  is  Love, 


461 


in  the  earth,  proclaiming  that  His  love  for  man  can  never 
blind  Him  to  the  justice  which  glorifies  His  character. 
And  although  He  loved  the  world  so  much  that  He  gave 
His  Only-begotten  Son  to  die  for  it,  He  did  not  love  it  so 
much  as  to  forgive  sin  until  His  justice  and  holiness  had 
been  satisfied  to  the  uttermost.  In  all  the  aspects  under 
which  we  can  look  at  God's  love,  it  bears  one  uniform  ap- 
pearance, the  appearance  of  a  love  ready  to  manifest  itself 
for  the  good  of  His  creatures,  but  only  when  that  love  can 
be  made  compatible  with  His  divine  character. 

It  is  very  evident  then,  from  all  that  we  have  said,  that 
when  the  proposition  of  my  text,  "  God  is  love,"  is  used  in 
any  such  manner  as  to  place  it  about  the  sinner  as  a  shield 
against  the  righteous  anger  of  God,  it  is  used  without  any 
foundation  in  the  experience  which  we  have  of  God's  attri- 
butes or  dealings.  Never  do  we  find  that  love  exhibiting 
the  weakness  which  is  thus  attempted  to  be  attributed  to  it. 
Never  do  we  find  it  conniving  at  sin,  or  passing  it  over  as 
a  matter  which  may  be  lightly  treated.  And  this  we  see, 
not  only  in  the  Revelation  of  Christianity,  but  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  God  as  exhibited  through  society,  considered 
merely  as  the  moral  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  putting  revealed 
religion  for  the  moment  altogether  aside.  But  nevertheless 
our  text  is  true.  "  God  is  love  : "  only  in  a  different  sense 
from  that  in  which  you  understand  it. 

"  In  this,"  says  S.  John,  "  was  manifested  the  love  of  God 
toward  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only-begotten  Son 
into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through  him."  1  His 
love,  then,  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  weakness  of  affection, 
nor  in  any  connivance  at  sin :  but  in  providing  a  Saviour 
from  sin.  In  this  sense  our  text  is  true :  but  not  in  the 
sense  in  which  you  desire  it  to  be  true.  You  desire  God's 
love  to  be  like  human  love,  weak  and  passionate ;  blind  to 
1 1  S.  John  iv.  9. 


462 


God  is  Love. 


all  faults ;  overlooking  all  immoralities ;  partial  to  all  in- 
dulgences ;  forgiving  all  sin  unconditionally :  but  His 
thoughts  are  not  as  your  thoughts.  He  knows  your  na- 
ture and  its  necessities ;  the  terrible  evil  and  bitterness  of 
sin  ;  the  fearful  punishment  which  awaits  those  who  com- 
mit it ;  the  certain  condemnation  of  those  for  whom  no  Sa- 
viour is  provided :  and  He  manifests  His  love  to  you,  by 
providing,  at  a  cost  past  all  price,  a  Ransom  for  you,  and  a 
Redemption  in  and  through  Christ  Jesus.  The  contest 
which  is  always  going  on,  is,  that  you  require  one  kind  of 
love,  while  He  offers  another.  Which  is  the  wiser  ?  Who 
can  look  best  into  the  past,  and  into  the  future  ?  Who  can 
judge  what  line  of  conduct  is  most  necessary  for  the  moral 
government  of  His  universe?  You  think  that  you  ought 
to  be  indulged  in  the  propensities  of  your  natures.  He 
tells  you  that  those  propensities  are  all  sinful,  and  must 
end  in  your  eternal  misery.  You  can  see  no  love  in  a  sys- 
tem which  checks  your  desires,  and  interferes  with  your 
pleasures  and  interests.  God,  on  the  other  hand,  can  place 
His  love  on  nothing  which  shall  not  be  remedial  of  your 
fallen  condition,  and  conservative  of  your  moral  character. 
You  pretend  not  to  understand  a  love  which  administers 
punishment  adequate  to  the  sin.  God  cannot  consider 
any  thing  as  love,  which  is  not  consistent  with  the  moral 
law  of  His  creation  and  with  the  harmony  of  His  charac- 
ter. And  thus  are  you  at  antagonism  with  a  God  of  love, 
because  you  will  not  consider  that  to  be  love  which  He  con- 
siders as  the  highest  manifestation  of  love,  and  will  substi- 
tute for  it  a  spurious  counterfeit  which  He  will  disown  at 
the  last,  and  leave  you  without  hope  through  a  wretched 
eternity  ! 

Look  before  you.  What  are  those  emblems  ?  Emblems 
of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.  Why  have  they  taken  that 
tragic  shape  and  form  ?    Why  do  they  represent  the  me- 


God  is  Love. 


463 


morial  of  a  Sacrifice  ?  and  that  the  sacrifice  of  an  only  and 
dearly  beloved  Son  ?  and  that  the  Son  of  the  Most  High 
God  ?  What  need  of  a  sacrifice  at  all,  if  God  be  love  in  the 
sense  in  which  you  undertake  to  interpret  the  text  ?  Why 
not  a  table  covered  with  the  flowers  of  the  field,  decked 
and  adorned  with  the  gems  of  earth  and  ocean  ?  Why 
not  priests,  crowned  with  garlands,  pouring  out  libations 
of  perfumed  wines  before  a  God  of  simple  indiscriminat- 
ing  benevolence  '?  The  very  institutions  of  the  religion  in 
which  you  have  been  trained  belie  the  idea  of  a  God  of  love, 
who  is  so  weak  that  He  cannot  punish,  so  unprincipled  as 
that  He  will  make  no  distinction  between  right  and  wrong. 
JT  is  true,  we  do  offer  up  at  this  Table,  each  time  we  meet, 
here,  a  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving ;  but  for  what  ? 
For  a  love  which  would  satisfy  an  Universalist '?  —  which 
would  permit  every  man  to  expect  salvation,  no  matter  how 
opposite  his  life  may  have  been  to  all  virtue  and  to  all 
truth  ?  Xo  !  but  for  that  manifestation  of  it  which  He 
gave  us  when  He  offered  up  His  Only-begotten  for  our  sins, 
that  by  such  an  offering  He  might  make  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  consistent  with  His  divine  character.  "  Herein  is 
love,"  said  S.  John,  "  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he 
loved  us,  and  "  —  did  what  ?  Overlooked  our  sins  ?  winked 
at  our  vices  and  immoralities  '?  declined  to  notice  or  punish 
our  wickedness '?  Xo,  none  of  these,  nothing  like  these ; 
for  the  Scripture  tells  us  that  He  cannot  look  upon  in- 
iquity :  but  He  "  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins." 1  What  need  for  any  propitiation  for  sin,  if 
"  God  is  love  "  in  your  conception  of  the  expression  ?  Pro- 
pitiation is  only  necessary  where  there  is  an  offended  power, 
whose  anger  has  been  kindled,  and  whose  wrath  requires 
punishment  and  vengeance.  Xo,  my  hearers  ;  every  thing 
contradicts  your  notion  of  God's  love.    The  natural  govern- 

1  1  S.  John  iv.  10. 


464 


God  is  Love. 


ment  of  the  world  as  carried  on  by  God  through  social  and 
individual  life  contradicts  it ;  for  in  them,  love  does  not 
stay  His  hand  from  punishment,  nor  cut  off  the  eutail  of 
sin  from  generation  to  generation.  Your  own  feelings  and 
judgments  contradict  it;  for  you  establish  and  support 
governments,  and  laws,  under  which  you  do  never  permit 
love  to  turn  aside  the  sword  of  an  evenhanded  justice. 
The  Revelation  of  God  contradicts  it ;  for,  in  that,  you 
find  judgment  laid  to  the  line  and  righteousness  to  the 
plummet  against  His  beloved  Saints  and  His  elect  people. 
And  the  ordinances  of  the  Church  in  which  you  are  foster- 
ing this  notion,  contradict  it ;  for  they  all  point  to  the 
shedding  of  the  most  precious  Blood  of  the  Son  of  God  as 
an  atonement  for  sin  which  love  could  not  pardon ;  and 
they  keep  it  before  you  abidingly,  that  you  may  never  be 
permitted  to  lose  sight  of  the  sublime  truth,  that  God's 
holiness  must  be  preserved  inviolate.  All  these  tell  you 
that  "  God  is  love ; "  but  that  it  is  love  as  He  has  been 
pleased  to  manifest  it,  and  not  as  you  may  be  pleased  to 
conceive  it  and  insist  upon  it.  Should  you  persevere  in 
your  idea,  and  rest  upon  it,  meanwhile  continuing  in  sin, 
you  will  find  that  "  the  bed  is  shorter  than  that  a  man  can 
stretch  himself  on  it :  and  the  covering  narrower  than  that 
he  can  wrap  himself  in  it." 1 

September,  1866. 

1  Isaiah  xxviii.  20. 


tfot%ssecottD  Sermon. 


See  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern  showed  to 
thee  in  the  mount.  —  Hebrews  viii.  5. 

TTTE  cannot  examine  the  works  of  God  as  they  exhibit 


•  themselves  in  Nature  and  in  the  constitution  and 
course  of  the  world,  without  perceiving  very  clearly  that 
one  or  two  main  ideas  pervade  the  whole  structure,  and 
give  their  hue  and  coloring  to  every  thing  which  proceeds 
from  the  Divine  Mind.  From  the  minutest  zoophyte, 
whose  very  being  has  to  be  determined  by  the  strongest 
glasses  which  the  wit  of  man  has  contrived,  up  to  the 
mightiest  Angel  who  stands  hard  by  the  throne  of  God,  we 
can  trace  one  or  two  principles  which  are  never  deviated 
from,  and  which  mark  the  presence  of  an  eternal  and  un- 
changeable will.  There  is  no  anomaly  anywhere,  —  no  dis- 
cord in  the  divine  harmony.  Every  thing  obeys  laws  which 
are  uniform  and  persistent,  indicating  unity  of  conception 
and  of  purpose.  All  things  seem  to  move  around  a  divine 
Centre,  which  shoots  its  rays  in  every  direction  to  the  re- 
motest circumference,  diffusing  light  and  life  and  order,  and 
preserving  the  entire  Universe  in  glorious  unity  and  most 
necessary  adjustment.  Nothing  too  insignificant  to  have 
its  own  place  in  the  series  of  things.  Nothing  too  grand 
or  sublime  to  be  under  the  rule  and  direction  of  the  Great 
First  Cause.  We  can  pierce  no  part  of  the  chain  which 
extends  from  earth  to  the  throne  of  the  Eternal  without 
meeting  these  all-pervading  principles ;  and  we  can  find  no 
point  at  which  they  begin,  or  in  which  they  terminate* 


30 


466  Subordination  and  Uniformity, 

We  find  them  ruling  in  Heaven,  and  earth,  and  even  in 
hell ;  and  when  we  are  lost,  either  in  the  infinite  minute- 
ness which  baffles  our  powers  or  in  the  dazzling  glories 
which  shut  in  the  presence  of  the  Almighty,  they  have  ac- 
companied us  to  the  confines  which  we  could  not  pass,  and 
have  penetrated  the  recesses  of  light  and  of  darkness  which 
have  shut  out  our  senses  and  our  conception.  Types  of  the 
Divine  Mind,  they  manifest  themselves  everywhere,  be- 
cause His  presence  and  His  will  are  without  limit,  and 
without  change. 

Among  these  all-pervading  principles  which  indicate  the 
presence  of  a  single  governing  Mind,  there  are  two  which 
are  especially  distinct,  and  which  can  be  traced  without 
difficulty  through  every  part  of  the  Universe  of  God. 
These  are  subordination  and  uniformity  :  every  thing  in  its 
due  place,  and  operating  in  its  own  appointed  sphere ;  and 
every  thing,  moreover,  obeying  the  law  of  repetition,  —  that 
is,  doing  to-day  what  it  did  yesterday,  doing  this  year  what 
it  did  last  year,  doing  this  century  what  it  did  the  last  cen- 
tury, moving  by  a  law  which  needs  no  change  because  it  is 
the  very  best.  Nowhere  in  all  God's  operations  can  we  find 
any  sphere  of  being  which  does  not  follow  these  invariable 
rules,  which  does  not  manifest  and  work  upon  these  univer- 
sal principles.  The  two  evils  which  God  seemed  most  to 
avoid  in  His  arrangement  of  things,  were  insubordination 
and  novelty.  Without  order  there  could  be  no  peace ; 
without  uniformity  there  could  be  no  security.  The  ab- 
sence of  these  principles  would  at  once  unhinge  all  govern- 
ment and  all  domestic  and  social  life. 

If  we  begin  at  the  very  lowest  point  of  creation,  and  ex- 
amine inanimate  nature  as  it  is  developed  to  us  through  the 
researches  of  science,  we  find  a  due  subordination  even 
among  the  masses  of  rock  which  form,  as  it  were,  the  bones 
of  the  earth.    These  all  have  their  due  subordination  fol- 


Stibordination  and  Uniformity,  467 

lowing  each  other  by  such  certain  laws  that  science  can  al- 
ways at  once  determine  their  place  in  the  series,  and  can 
decide  at  a  glance  whether  any  thing  useful  to  man  or  ne- 
cessary to  his  wants  is  contained  within  their  bowels,  or 
underneath  them,  or  above  them.  In  this  subordination 
those  products  which  are  most  useful  to  man  are  always 
near  the  surface,  within  his  reach,  so  adjusted  as  that  he 
can  procure  them  without  insupportable  toil.  And  when 
we  study  the  extinct  life,  which  is  brought  to  light  through 
the  researches  of  geology,  we  discern  the  like  subordina- 
tion :  animation  exhibiting  itself  first  in  very  inferior  beings, 
such  as  fish  and  insects ;  and  extending  upward  in  ever-as- 
cending gradation  of  excellence,  until  mau  himself  appears 
upon  the  stage.  And  when  we  consider  the  arrangement 
which  Nature  stamps  upon  man  himself,  we  find  the 
woman  subordinate  to  the  man,  and  the  children  subordinate 
to  the  parents,  and  the  servants  subordinate  to  the  children, 
and  the  inferior  animals  subordinate  to  man  in  whatever 
state  of  social  being  he  may  chance  to  move.  And  if  we 
follow  this  law  of  subordination  out  of  the  visible  world,  we 
find  another  series  of  being  rising  circle  above  circle,  An- 
gel and  Archangel,  Cherubim  and  Seraphim,  Thrones,  Do- 
minions, Principalities,  Powers,  until  we  reach  the  Son  of 
God  Himself,  who,  although  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of 
kings,  is  yet,  during  the  economy  of  grace,  subordinate  unto 
the  Father,  and  acting  according  to  His  will.  As  the  family 
cannot  live  in  peace  and  harmony  without  due  subordination 
of  its  parts,  so  cannot  the  State,  so  cannot  even  Heaven 
itself.  It  is  the  law  impressed  upon  the  Universe,  manifest 
everywhere,  operating  everywhere,  necessary  everywhere. 

The  other  law,  of  Uniformity,  which  I  shall  only  touch 
in  one  of  its  most  restricted  senses,  is  quite  as  important 
as  that  of  Subordination  which  I  have  just  exhibited.  I 
speak  now  of  uniformity  of  action  in  natural  and  sensible 


468  Subordination  and  Uniformity. 

things,  in  contradistinction  to  novelty  and  change.  The 
sun,  for  illustration,  has  risen,  to  mortal  eye,  in  the  eastern 
heavens,  ever  since  the  creation,  and  has  gone  to  its  set- 
ting at  the  same  spot,  upon  the  same  day,  and  at  the 
same  time  of  day,  during  every  year  from  the  moment 
when  God  set  it  in  the  firmament  of  Heaven  to  rule  the 
day.  The  moon  has,  in  her  turn,  exhibited  the  same 
phases  to  the  eye  of  man,  waxing  and  waning,  waning  and 
waxing,  ever  since  her  appointed  place  was  given  her 
among  the  heavenly  hosts.  The  stars,  which  make  their 
stately  march  around  our  little  world,  presenting  to  us,  in 
turn,  all  their  forms  of  beauty  and  of  glory,  have  made  no 
change  in  their  celestial  procession,  since  they  sang  to- 
gether in  the  morning  of  Creation.  Day  and  night  are  no 
different  now  from  what  they  were  when  God  saw  that  His 
works  of  creation  were  "  very  good,"  and  when  "  the  even- 
ing and  the  morning  were  the  sixth  day."  Winter  and 
Summer,  Spring  and  Autumn,  seed-time  and  harvest,  have 
never  changed ;  but  they  come  and  go  with  an  unfailing 
certainty  and  an  unerring  uniformity.  And  as  with  Nature 
and  her  laws,  so  it  is  with  all  the  laws  which  govern  our 
natural  and  intellectual  functions.  We  eat,  we  drink,  we 
are  born ;  we  speak,  we  think,  we  communicate ;  we  love, 
we  hate,  we  sympathize ;  we  are  sick,  and  die :  just  as  our 
kind  has  always  done.  Our  very  sins  and  punishments  are 
uniform,  and  life  itself  is  an  unchanging  cycle,  in  which  all 
things  come  round  to  their  place,  forever  changing  yet  for- 
ever the  same,  giving  us  experience  and  security.  We  ask 
not  for  novelty  in  these  things :  so  far  from  it,  any  change 
in  them  produces  alarm,  shakes  our  nerves,  disorders  our 
calculations,  and  makes  us  feel  insecure  and  uncertain. 
Uniformity  is  our  delight,  because  upon  it  is  founded  all 
our  experience  :  and  the  moment  that  is  lost,  we  are  upon 
an  ocean  without  a  compass  and  without  a  rudder;  we 


Subordination  and  Uniformity.  469 

know  not  what  will  come  to  us,  or  whither  we  shall  go  ;  we 
are  adrift,  having  lost  the  guidance  of  God's  law,  and  know- 
ing not  where  the  waves  or  the  winds,  or  the  poor  pilot 
which  man  is,  will  carry  us ! 

When  this  God  of  subordination  and  of  uniformity  was 
pleased  to  reveal  Himself  unto  man,  and  to  arrange  a 
Church  in  the  world,  was  it  not  likely,  reasoning  a  'priori, 
that  in  that  Church  there  should  be  strikingly  manifested 
these  same  principles,  pervading*  it  thoroughly,  and  show- 
ing very  clearly  that  the  God  of  Nature  and  of  the  Church 
was  one  and  the  same  Being  ?  Most  likely  :  and  accord- 
ingly we  find  that  what  a  reasonable  analogy  would  anti- 
cipate, did  actually  occur ;  and  that  the  Church  which  He 
arranged  in  Israel  and  for  Israel  had,  clearly  stamped  upon 
it,  these  indubitable  marks  of  having  come  from  Him.  The 
law  of  subordination  pervades  every  part  of  the  Church 
government  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  and  the  law  of 
uniformity  its  whole  ritual.  In  the  one  we  find  rank  above 
rank  of  officers,  from  those  who  performed  the  lowest  offices 
of  the  Church,  up  to  the  High-Priest  who  alone  was  quali- 
fied, or  might  dare,  to  enter  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  and 
meddle  with  the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Divine  Presence. 
No  one  dared  to  interfere  with  the  office  which  did  not  ap- 
pertain to  his  rank;  and  the  terrible  punishments  which 
destroyed  Korah  and  his  company,  and  which  fell  upon 
Uzzah,  and  which  were  threatened  against  any  who  pre- 
sumed to  intrude  upon  the  sacred  offices  of  the  Church, 
plainly  tell  us  how  necessary  did  God  deem  order  to  be,  in 
the  arrangements  of  the  Church.  Every  man  had  his  ap- 
pointed place.  One  tribe  furnished  the  officers  of  the 
Temple.  One  family  gave  the  priesthood  to  the  Church. 
And  thus  it  continued,  until  He  came  who  fulfilled  the  law, 
and  confirmed  the  promises,  and  made  that  ancient  priest- 
hood to  pass  away,  having  accomplished  its  work  and  fore- 


470  Subordination  and  Uniformity, 

shadowed  Him  who  was  the  Temple,  and  the  Priest,  and 
the  Altar,  and  the  Sacrifice. 

And  as  it  was  with  the  priestly  arrangements  of  the 
m  Temple,  so  was  it  also  with  its  ritual.  That  displayed  the 
uniformity  which  is  so  marked  in  Nature,  and  which  we 
should  expect  in  a  form  of  worship  coming  from  God. 
Every  part  of  that  ritual  was  prescribed.  Every  sacrifice 
was  arranged  in  its  minutest  details.  Every  formula  was 
written  down.  For  each  occasion  words  were  prepared, 
which  were  not  deviated  from.  And  all  this  continued, 
without  variation,  from  the  time  of  Moses  until  He,  whose 
it  all  was,  abolished  it  by  His  Almighty  cry  upon  the  Cross, 
"  It  is  finished."  Then  passed  away  all  that  ritual,  save 
as  it  might  serve  as  furnishing  a  principle  and  a  model  for 
the  Church  of  Christ,  which  was  to  spring  out  of  its  preg- 
nant ashes. 

In  that  Church  of  Christ  we  might  naturally  anticipate 
the  same  principles  of  subordination  in  the  ministry  and 
of  uniformity  in  worship  to  manifest  themselves.  And 
so  they  do :  and  these  principles  lie  at  the  basis  of  our 
order  and  of  our  worship.  That  arrangement  which  sep- 
arates the  Ministry  into  a  threefold  order,  Deacons,  Priests, 
and  Bishops,  was  begun  by  Christ  Himself,  and  was  per- 
fected by  His  Apostles,  acting  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  As  there  was  no  parity  in  earth  or  Heaven, 
so  did  Christ  permit  no  parity  in  His  Church.  He  ap- 
pointed Apostles  and  Elders;  and  when  He  passed  away, 
His  Apostles  added  to  these  Orders  of  the  Ministry  that  of 
Deacons, /the  office  with  which  we  are  to-day  concerned. 
Each  of  these  had  its  respective  functions,  and  each  of 
them  performed  only  those.  When  the  deacon  Philip  had 
preached  and  done  miracles  and  baptized  at  Samaria,  he 
dared  not  proceed  any  further.  He  sent  to  Jerusalem,  and 
laid  his  work  before  the  Apostles,  and  they  sent  two  of 


Subordination  and  Uniformity.  471 

their  number  to  Samaria  to  lay  hands  upon  them.  When  S. 
Paul  called  the  elders  of  Ephesus  together,  he  hade  them 
take  heed  to  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made 
them  overseers,  he  exhorted  them  to  every  act  of  faithful- 
ness as  pastors  and  shepherds  :  hut  not  a  word  did  he  say 
to  them  about  ordination.  But  when  that  same  Apostle 
directed  his  instructions  to  Timothy  or  to  Titus,  successors 
of  the  Apostles  and  Bishops  of  the  Church,  his  main  ad- 
dresses to  them  were  upon  this  very  point  of  ordination. 
Each  of  these  Orders  in  its  place  :  Deacons  for  the  lower 
offices  of  the  Ministry ;  Presbyters  for  pastoral  duties  and 
the  work  of  the  flock  upon  earth ;  Bishops  for  ordination, 
and  the  laying  on  of  hands,  and  the  government  of  the 
Church. 

And  just  as  we  should  anticipate,  in  the  Church,  a  sub- 
ordination in  the  Ministry,  because  it  was  the  type  upon 
which  every  thing  had  been  modelled,  so  might  we  look  for 
liturgical  uniformity  as  of  a  piece  with  all  that  had  gone 
before.  And  while  we  do  not  consider  liturgical  worship 
as  necessarily  of  divine  institution,  we  do  think  that  the 
analogy  of  God's  works,  and  of  God's  Church  under  the  old 
dispensation,  would  lead  us  to  consider  it  as  that  mode  of 
worship  which  should  be  most  likely  to  meet  and  satisfy 
the  wants  of  human  nature.  Why  should  our  worship 
change,  any  more  than  the  thousand  other  things  in  Na- 
ture and  in  society  which  go  on  perpetually  in  the  same 
routine  ?  Our  wants  are  always  the  same  :  why  not  our 
prayers  ?  Our  relations  to  God  and  His  Christ  are  un- 
changeable :  why  not  our  mode  of  expressing  them  ?  We 
come  together  to  confess  our  sins :  is  not  one  comprehen- 
sive formula  sufficient  ?  We  come  together  to  offer  up  the 
sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving :  are  not  a  few  psalms 
drawn  from  the  treasures  of  inspiration,  and  associated 
with  all  the  holiness  of  the  past,  and  consecrated  by  the 


472  Subordination  and  Uniformity. 

blood  of  confessors  and  martyrs,  enough  to  embody  those 
utterances  of  devotion  ?  We  come  together  to  ask  God  for 
those  blessings  which  are  always  the  same,  for  that  protec- 
tion which  is  uniform  and  essential,  for  that  guidance  which 
needs  no  change  in  its  power:  why  multiply  words  ?  why 
require  novelty  of  expression  ?  God  certainly  does  not  ask 
for  them ;  does  not  show  us,  in  His  Revelation,  that  He  re- 
quires them  :  nay,  all  the  analogy  of  His  Revelation  and  of 
His  natural  arrangement  of  things  teaches  us  that  He  pre- 
fers uniformity.  A  well-ordered  formula  of  prayer  fulfills 
all  its  requisitions,  and  permits  the  introduction  of  nothing 
which  may  disturb  the  feelings  or  mar  the  solemnity  of  the 
occasion.  A  Liturgy  is  not  absolutely  called  for  by  the 
Holy  Scriptures  :  but  the  Church  at  a  very  early  period  is 
found  universally  using  Liturgies,  adducing  as  reasons  for 
their  adoption  the  fact  that  our  Lord  Himself  had  twice 
given  His  disciples  the  same  form  of  prayer,  and  had 
guarded  them  against  vain  repetitions  and  much  speaking 
in  prayer.  It  is,  to  say  the  least,  in  unison  with  that  order 
which  we  find  stamped  upon  Nature,  and  the  constitution 
and  course  of  things. 

The  office  of  Deacon,  to  which  we  are  about  to  introduce 
this  young  manj  is  the  first  step  in  that  order  which  sepa- 
rates the  Ministry  from  the  laity.  It  was  instituted  by  the 
Apostles,  under  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the 
purpose  of  freeing  themselves  from  certain  matters  of  de- 
tail which  interfered  with  the  more  important  works  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  and  of  prayer.  It  seems,  however, 
not  to  have  been  confined  to  those  minor  offices:  for  we 
soon  find  Stephen  confessing,  exhorting,  and  denouncing, 
for  the  sake  of  Christ,  and  giving  himself  up  as  the  proto- 
martyr  of  the  Christian  Church ;  and  Philip  baptizing,  and 
performing  miracles,  and  doing  many  things  which  stamped 
him  as  a  Minister  of  Christ.    The  Scriptures,  therefore,  do 


Subordination  and  Uniformity,  473 

not  warrant  us  in  considering  it  as  an  office  of  but  little 
worth ;  for  it  lias  power  to  exercise  many  of  the  functions 
of  the  highest.  He  who  is  permitted  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
to  baptize,  to  assist  in  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  cannot  be  said  to  occupy  a  low  place  in  the  Church 
of  Christ.  He  may  have  higher  steps  to  take  in  the 
Church,  but  even  this  first  step  is  full  of  dignity  and  honor. 
It  brings  him  into  contact  with  holy  things ;  it  admits  him 
within  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Altar ;  it  connects  him 
directly  with  Christ  and  His  Church  through  the  Sacra- 
ments ;  it  invests  him  with  the  office  of  an  ambassador 
from  God  to  man.  Surely  these  are  functions  which  may 
satisfy  any  human  being.  Greater  and  more  solemn  other 
offices  may  be,  but  this  is  grave  and  solemn  enough  for 
one  without  experience  and  without  practice.  And  the 
people  should  look  upon  it  in  this  light :  not  as  measured 
by  its  powers,  but  by  its  authority ;  not  as  determined  by 
its  functions,  but  by  its  origin  and  the  commission  which 
lies  behind  it.  All  the  disabilities  of  the  office  are  but  tem- 
porary ;  its  authority  is  eternal  and  enduring.  All  its  in- 
feriority and  present  lowliness  will  pass  away  with  time ; 
but  its  acts  will  endure,  for  good  or  for  evil,  throughout 
Eternity. 

This  office  are  you  now  about  to  take  upon  you,  my  young 
friend ;  —  to  take  npon  you  at  a  time  and  under  circum- 
stances which  will  involve  peculiar  responsibilities,  and  re- 
quire very  earnest  devotion.  Those  to  whom  you  will  be 
specially  called  upon  to  minister,  will  be  men  standing  in 
constant  jeopardy  of  life,  to  whom  a  day  or  an  hour  may  be 
of  the  very  utmost  importance.  You  will  have  no  time  for 
trifling ;  no  moment  that  you  can  waste  in  theory  or  specu- 
lation. With  you,  all  must  be  work,  earnest  work;  such 
work  as  men  do  when  life  rests  upon  it,  and  the  danger  is 
imminent.     At  any  moment,  those  over  whom  you  are 


474  Subordination  and  Uniformity. 

placed  by  the  Lord  may  be  snatched  away  by  the  casualties 
of  war;  and  you  must  therefore  work  "while  it  is  called 
to-day."  You  will  be  where  life  is  held  very  cheap,  and 
where  a  brief  cry  of  compassion  is  all  that  can  be  uttered 
over  the  fallen ;  but  you  must  keep  alive  to  the  fact  that 
the  soul  which  wings  its  everlasting  flight  amid  the  storm 
of  battle,  goes  to  its  account  as  surely,  and  upon  the  same 
principles,  as  that  which  is  dismissed  to  its  rest  surrounded 
by  weeping  friends  and  encompassed  by  all  the  soothing 
processes  of  home  and  art.  You,  therefore,  must  speak 
and  preach  as  if  you  were  always  speaking  and  preaching 
to  dying  men  ;  as  if  the  words  you  were  uttering  were  the 
very  last  which  you  should  utter  to  those  who  are  listening 
to  you  that  they  may  receive  direction  and  advice.  Your 
whole  burden  of  work  must  turn  upon  a  few  brief  sayings 
of  the  Bible,  which  must  be  pressed  again  and  again  with 
energy  and  with  zeal ;  such  as  these  :  "  Neither  is  there 
salvation  in  any  other  "  than  "  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth." 1 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,"  "  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God."  2  "  Be- 
hold, now  is  the  accepted  time ;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of 
salvation." 3  "  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow ;  for  thou 
knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth."  4 

With  these  themes  you  must  mingle  such  instruction  as 
can  be  given  in  the  outskirts  of  a  camp,  and  such  a  view  of 
the  economy  of  grace  as  one  can  mingle  with  exhortation 
and  immediate  turning  to  the  Lord.  Every  Minister  has 
his  own  work  to  do,  and  must  do  it  according  to  the  posi- 
tion in  which  he  is  placed,  and  the  emergencies  which  en- 
compass him.  With  you,  as  a  Chaplain  to  the  Army  and 
ministering  continually  to  the  sick  and  the  wounded,  there 
must  be  great  tenderness  and  a  large-hearted  charity ;  but 


i  Acts  iv.  12,  10. 
8  2  Cor.  vi.  2. 


2  S.  John  iii.  3,  5. 
4  Proverbs  xxvii.  1. 


Subordination  and  Uniformity.  475 

at  the  same  time  a  stern  adherence  to  truth  and  the  re- 
quirements of  God  in  Christ.  Offer  salvation  ;  proclaim 
the  tidings  of  great  joy ;  press  upon  them  the  gracious  in- 
Titation  to  come  to  Christ  and  he  saved ;  preach  grace,  as 
you  see  it  developed  in  the  Scriptures :  hut  at  the  same 
time  do  not  forget  to  rebuke  sin,  to  declare  the  necessity  of 
the  Spirit's  work  upon  the  heart,  to  announce  fully  that 
without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.  You  will  have 
no  time  to  retrieve  error.  Once  spoken,  to  those  audiences, 
forever  spoken.    It  is  a  seed  sown  for  life  and  for  death. 

Your  present  position,  and  the  work  for  which  you  are 
just  now  specially  ordained,  will  carry  you  away  for  a  time 
from  the  routine  of  the  Church,  and  will  introduce  to  oc- 
casions where  you  cannot  fully  carry  out  all  her  require- 
ments. But,  even  there,  you  will  find  how  beautifully  her 
arrangements  are  suited  to  the  necessities  of  man,  and  how 
rich  is  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  in  furnishing  prayers 
and  supplications  and  giviugs  of  thanks.  And  then  its  ob- 
jective worship  is  very  attractive  to  those  who  are  earnest 
and  sincere  ;  and  its  successive  steps  toward  commuuion 
are  great  helps  to  those  who  are  timid  and  distrustful.  And 
in  the  hospitals,  its  rich  prayers  are  most  highly  prized  and 
its  quiet  earnestness  goes  to  the  heart  and  the  soul.  So 
far  from  the  liturgical  work  of  the  Church  being  a  hin- 
drance to  you,  you  will  find  it,  if  judiciously  used,  a  great 
help,  and  a  most  potent  auxiliary.  But  you  must  endeavor 
to  adapt  yourself  to  all  occasions  and  all  circumstances, 
and  to  act  with  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church 
upon  the  same  principle  as  that  upon  which  our  Saviour 
acted  in  regard  to  the  Sabbath :  that  "  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  1  You  must 
use  them,  but  not  abuse  them.  You  must  make  them  sub- 
servient to  the  salvatiou  of  the  soul,  and  not  permit  them 
1  S.  Mark  ii.  27. 


476  Subordination  and  Uniformity. 

to  clog  that  salvation.  And  thus,  by  the  use  of  a  sound 
judgment  combined  with  an  earnest  devotion  of  purpose, 
you  will  gain  a  rich  experience,  that  will  be  of  immense 
service  to  you  when  the  emergency  which  now  presses  upon 
you  shall  have  passed  away,  and  you  be  called  once  more  to 
work  in  the  ordinary  channels  of  the  Church.  You  are 
being  ordained  for  a  life's  work ;  and  that  work  will  vary  in 
kind,  according  to  the  path  along  which  your  Master  shall 
lead  you.  What  is  required  of  you  is,  to  be  ready  for  to- 
day. Leave  to-morrow  to  Him  who  has  said  :  "  As  thy  days 
so  shall  thy  strength  be."  1  Some  positions  require  great 
and  immediate  activity,  such  as  this  which  you  are  now  to 
fill.  Others  call  for  careful  culture  :  these  may  come,  and 
with  them  God  will  give  the  time  and  the  opportunity. 
What  I  wish  to  impress  upon  you  is,  to  work  in  the  present 
and  for  the  present.  Do  not  neglect  the  duty  of  the  day, 
in  preparing  yourself  for  the  possible  duty  of  the  hereafter. 
If  you  have  leisure,  use  it  well ;  if  opportunity,  grasp  it 
and  turn  it  to  account :  but  do  not  neglect  the  salvation  of 
the  meanest  creature  upon  earth,  for  any  preparation  that 
is  to  suit  you  for  an  imaginary  future  in  the  Church. 
"  Work  while  it  is  called  to-day."  2  "  Gird  up  the  loins  of 
your  mind,  be  sober,"  3  and  "  watch  unto  prayer."  4  God 
will  guide  you  along  the  path  which  He  has  ordained  for 
you  to  tread ;  will  give  you  abundantly  of  the  treasures  of 
His  grace ;  will  strengthen  and  support  you  in  times  of 
weakness  and  infirmity ;  will  make  the  light  shine  more 
and  more  distinctly  upon  your  heart  and  life ;  and  will 
finally  give  you  the  crown  of  everlasting  glory.  Cast  all 
your  care  and  weakness  and  infirmity  upon  Him,  and  He 
will  carry  it  all  for  you. 

June,  1863. 


1  Deut.  xxxiii.  25. 
»  1  S.  Peter  i.  13. 


2  Heb.  ii.  13. 
4  Ibid.  ir.  7. 


Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  —  Psalm  xlvi.  10. 
NE  of  the  hardest  trials  of  our  faith  is  that  which  is 


enjoined  upon  us  by  God  in  our  text:  to  "be  still," 
when  He  has  laid  the  heavy  hand  of  chastisement  upon  us, 
and  "  know  that  He  is  God."  It  is  so  much  more  natural, 
when  our  prosperity  has  been  blighted,  and  days  of  dark- 
ness have  blotted  out  the  sunshine  of  our  hearts  and 
homes,  to  look  at  the  secondary  causes  of  our  misfortunes 
and  be  angry  with  them,  rather  than  see  the  rod  in  the 
hand  of  God,  and  then  submit  in  quietness  to  the  will  of 
Him  who  has  dispensed  it :  that  it  is  justly  reckoned  one 
of  the  sublimest  trials  of  faith  to  be  enabled  to  say,  in  sin- 
cerity of  heart,  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done."  1  It  is 
a  marked  indication  that  things  unseen  are  getting  the 
mastery  over  sense ;  and  that  God  is  becoming  to  us  a  real- 
ity, a  present  Deity,  whose  influence  we  joyfully  recognize, 
and  whose  interest  in  our  concerns  we  humbly  and  thank- 
fully acknowledge. 

This  trial  of  our  faith  is  brought  home  to  us,  my  beloved 
people,  at  this  moment  of  our  reunion,  in  a  most  striking 
manner ;  and  my  earnest  prayer  both  for  you  and  for  my- 
self is,  that  it  may  end  in  a  triumph  of  that  faith,  and  that 
we  may  have  grace  given  us  to  "  be  still,"  and  to  know  that 
it  is  God  who  has  overruled  every  thing  to  the  purposes  of 
His  will,  and  that  without  His  permission  nothing  could 
have  happened  which  has  happened. 


1  S.  Luke  xxii.  42. 


478 


Be  stilL 


To  find  any  comfort  in  the  consideration  of  human  af- 
fairs, we  must  ever  acknowledge  a  present  Deity.  Without 
Him,  all  is  chaos,  and  all  would  be  despair.  Things  would 
seem  to  go  on  without  any  rule,  and  folly  and  vice  and 
wickedness  to  ride  triumphant  over  the  efforts  of  man. 
But  when  we  soar  above  the  sensible  and  the  visible,  and 
see  Him  seated  upon  His  throne  of  righteousness  and  of 
mercy,  holding  in  His  hands  the  complicated  threads  of  hu- 
man action,  and  guiding  and  governing  all  wills  and  powers, 
as  He  thinks  best  for  His  creatures,  we  bow  in  humility  and 
with  thanksgiving :  in  humility,  that  we  should  presume 
to  murmur  when  He  is  ruling  over  us  ;  with  thanksgiving, 
that  the  world  has  not  been  left  to  itself,  but  that  He  who 
has  foreordained  all  things,  is  driving  them  on  to  their 
rightful  consummation.  So  long  as  we  fasten  our  thoughts 
upon  secondary  causes,  upon  human  agents,  upon  earthly  in- 
struments, our  most  dangerous  passions  are  kept  alive  :  our 
anger,  our  wrath,  our  bitterness,  our  hatred,  our  un charita- 
bleness ;  —  the  very  feelings  which  inspired  men  have  com- 
manded us,  as  Christians,  to  put  aside.  It  is  not  until  God 
is  permitted  to  fill  our  hearts,  and  to  become  —  what  He  is 
—  the  Ruling  Spirit  of  all  worldly  movements,  and  to  shut 
out  by  His  glorious  Presence  the  human  instruments 
through  whom  He  works  and  punishes,  that  these  unchris- 
tian passions  can  be  soothed  and  quelled:  soothed  and 
quelled  by  the  magical  words,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I 
am  God."  Just  as  Christ's  words  calmed  the  angry  waves 
of  the  sea,  when  He  arose  and  rebuked  the  winds  :  so  when, 
in  our  peril  and  distress,  we  call  upon  Him,  and  He  enters 
upon  the  scene,  saying  with  the  irresistible  voice  of  Divin- 
ity, "  Peace,  be  still,"  our  passions  sink  before  Him,  and  we 
are  quiet,  because  we  know  that  "  He  is  God." 

What,  my  beloved  people,  is  our  belief?  What  is  it  that 
we  call  our  Christian  faith  ?    Is  it  not  belief  in  a  scheme, 


Be  still.  479 

which,  beginning  in  the  cradle  of  the  world,  is  to  go  on, 
until  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms 
of  Christ '?  Every  link  in  the  history  of  nations  is  a  link 
likewise  in  the  chain  of  events,  which  is  to  bring  about 
that  result.  We  know  not  how ;  we  know  not  when :  all 
we  can  do  is,  to  act  our  part  as  seems  to  us  right ;  to  fol- 
low that  path  of  duty,  which  opens  itself  before  us.  When 
we  have  done  that,  we  have  fulfilled  our  allotted  task.  The 
results  and  the  consequences  are  with  God.  Should  they 
be  widely  different  from  what  we  expected ;  should  things 
take  an  altogether  contrary  course  from  what  we  thought 
they  would  do,  or  ought  to  do :  we  may  be  lost  in  amaze- 
ment, but  nevertheless  the  direction  comes  to  us,  "  Be  still, 
and  know  that  I  am  God."  We  are  not  placed  here  upon 
earth  to  direct  the  purposes  of  God.  We  are  the  mere  in- 
struments created  to  carry  them  out ;  and  while  carrying* 
them  out,  to  save  our  own  souls.  We  have  only  to  look 
back,  to  trace  the  history  of  the  Church  through  all  its 
struggles  with  the  world,  to  perceive  how  continually  its 
instruments  must  have  been  lost  in  consternation  at  the 
dealings  of  God  with  them,  and  how  their  faith  must  have 
been  tried  as  event  after  event  developed  itself  in  such 
seeming  contradiction  to  their  expectations  and  hopes. 
Xoah  must  have  been  amazed  when,  as  the  fulfillment  of 
the  promises  made  to  Adam  and  Eve  at  the  expulsion  from 
Eden,  a  flood  covered  the  earth,  and  swept  from  it  all  living 
things  save  his  chosen  family.  God's  satisfaction  of  his 
amazement  was  no  more  than  this,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that 
I  am  God."  Abraham  must  have  been  amazed,  when,  as 
the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  that  in  him  should  "  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed,"  he  was  commanded  to  of- 
fer up  his  only  son,  the  child  of  promise,  as  a  sacrifice  upon 
Mount  Moriah.  God's  voice  to  him  was  no  more  than  that 
which  He  still  utters,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God." 


480 


Be  stilL 


The  children  of  the  promise  made  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  that  the  Messiah  should  come  from  them,  and  that 
"  the  sceptre  should  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver 
from  between  his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come," 1  must  have  been 
amazed  when  both  Israel  and  Judah  were  carried  away  into 
what  seemed  a  hopeless  captivity.  The  commandment  still 
was,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God."  The  followers  of 
our  blessed  Saviour  must  have  been  in  amazement,  when 
He  who  proclaimed  himself  as  the  Son  of  God  with  power, 
and  upon  whose  head  were  concentrated  the  promises  and 
types  and  prophecies  of  all  time  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
was  led  away  to  be  crucified  between  two  thieves.  "  Be 
still,  and  know  that  I  am  God,"  was  all  the  strength  and 
consolation  which  they  received.  Why  multiply  instances  ? 
This  has  been  the  Church's  and  the  Christian's  experience, 
from  the  beginning.  Man  attempts  to  understand  and 
interpret  God's  dealings  :  but  it  is  not  in  his  province  "  to 
know  the  times  or  the  seasons  which  the  Father  hath  put 
in  his  own  power." 2  Man's  duty  is,  when  he  has  labored 
as  God  intended  him  to  labor  and  has  thus  acquitted  his 
soul,  to  acquiesce  in  the  results  ;  to  have  faith  that  God  is 
wiser  and  holier  than  himself ;  and  to  be  still,  in  contem- 
plation of  His  dealings  and  in  waiting  upon  His  will. 

We  must  not  expect  nor  wish  to  be  exempted  from  this 
condition  of  the  Christian  life.  We  must  encounter  many 
things,  both  in  our  national  and  personal  experience,  in 
which  God's  dealings  will  be  very  different  from  our  expec- 
tations. His  ways  are  not  as  our  ways,  nor  His  thoughts 
as  our  thoughts.  We  shall  be  called  upon  very  often  to 
look  on  in  amazement  at  a  course  of  proceeding  on  His 
part  very  contrary  to  what  we  supposed  would  be  or  ought 
to  be  ;  and  under  those  circumstances,  the  attitude  which 
Christianity  calls  upon  us  to  take,  is  that  indicated  in  our 
1  Gen.  xlix.  10.  2  Acts  i.  7. 


Be  still. 


text.  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God,"  occurs  just 
when  He  calls  upon  His  Church  to  look  upon  the  works  of 
the  Lord :  —  "  Come,  behold  the  works  of  the  Lord,  what 
desolations  he  hath  made  in  the  earth :  " 1  so  that  it  is  no 
violent  wrenching  of  the  words  from  their  context,  but  an 
application  of  them  most  suitable  and  appropriate. 

And  yet  how  hard  it  is  to  be  still,  in  the  full  meaning  of 
the  expression  as  used  by  God  in  this  glorious  Scripture ! 
For  stillness  is  more  than  a  mere  submission  because  we 
cannot  help  ourselves ;  is  more  than  acquiescence  in  His 
dealings,  because  He  is  the  Author  of  them.  To  be  still, 
in  the  full  meaning  of  our  text,  is  to  believe  that  our  affairs 
are  in  wiser  and  better  hands  than  our  own :  and,  while  we 
look  on  in  wonder  and  amazement,  not  to  doubt  but  that 
we  shall  see  and  understand  that  He  maketh  all  things  to 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  him,  —  to  them 
that  are  called  according  to  His  purpose.  We  may  be  very 
still  under  calamity  and  humiliation,  and  yet  very  rebellious 
in  our  hearts  against  God  ;  may  utter  no  complaints  in  the 
hearing  of  man,  while  our  hearts  are  swelling  —  and  God 
searcheth  the  hearts  —  with  irrepressible  indignation.  This 
is  being  still  before  man :  but  not  still  before  God.  The 
whisperings  of  the  heart,  of  which  man  knows  and  hears 
nothing,  are  as  loud  before  God  as  the  surges  of  the  ocean 
when  they  lash  the  rocks  in  their  fury ;  and  if  those  whis- 
perings are  rebellious,  it  is  a  conflict  with  God,  which  is 
incompatible  with  Christian  peace.  The  stillness  of  the 
heart  comes  when  passion  has  passed  away,  whether  of 
grief  or  of  suffering ;  when  the  spirit,  quieted  and  soothed 
by  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Dove,  sees  God's  love  in  all 
that  has  disturbed  it ;  and  mingles  with  its  submission,  a 
patient  waiting  upon  the  Lord  for  the  manifestation  of  His 
goodness  and  wisdom. 

1  Psalm  xlvi.  8." 

3i 


482 


Be  still. 


It  is  tliat  patient  waiting  upon  the  Lord  which  is  now 
our  duty,  and  at  the  same  time  our  temptation.    God  says, 
"  Be  still : "  but  our  throbbing  hearts  beat  high  with  im- 
patience.   God  says,  "  Your  present  condition  is  but  a  link 
in  a  chain  of  events  which  extends  from  eternity  to  eter- 
nity, and  which  is  as  necessary  to  My  purposes  as  your  per- 
sonal faith  is  to  your  salvation  ;  be  still,  and  see  the  end :  " 
but  we  are  not  in  a  temper  for  waiting ;  we  are  for  judg- 
ing and  condemning  God's  dealings  at  once,  —  for  it  really 
amounts  to  that,  —  and  for  finding  fault  with  all  around  us. 
This,  my  beloved  fellow-Christians,  is  all  very  natural,  very 
much  in  keeping  with  the  feelings  of  the  world :  but  is  it 
very  Christian?    Is  it  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  His  Apostles  ?  Those  teachings  are  the  standard 
of  the  Church,  the  rule  of  its  life  and  conduct.    Often  did 
they  look  in  wonder  at  God's  dealings  with  them,  but  their 
spirits  yielded  at  once  before  the  presence  of  God.   Our  Sav- 
iour Himself  was  "  sore  amazed  " 1  at  His  Father's  permis- 
sion of  the  sufferings  which  He  went  through  at  the  hands 
of  men  ;  but  He  never  lost  the  divine  charity  which  He  came 
to  teach  and  illustrate.    "  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do,"  2  was  His  prayer  in  that  moment 
of  His  agony.  Our  being  still,  involves  all  this,  —  patience, 
charity,  forgiveness  of  injuries,  the  feeling  that  it  is  God 
and  not  man  with  whom  we  are  concerned.    And  how  much 
more  noble  and  dignified  it  is  —  for  true  Christianity  is  the 
highest  and  sublimest  dignity  —  to  believe  and  feel  that  we 
are  contending  with  God  and  not  with  man ;  to  carry  our 
cause  from  the  battle-fields  and  courts  of  earth,  and  lay  it 
down  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  of  God,  and  leave  it  quietly 
with  Him.    He  knew  our  hearts ;  He  saw  our  motives ;  to 
Him  we  committed  ourselves ;  in  His  hands  we  placed 
every  thing  that  was  dear  to  us ;  we  said  in  express  words 
1  S.  Mark  xiv.  33.  2  S.  Luke  xxiii.  34. 


Be  still. 


483 


that  we  were  willing1  to  abide  by  His  decision  and  His  judg- 
ment. Unless  we  are  still  under  His  decrees,  we  are  tak- 
ing all  this  back  :  we  are  appealing  from  Him  —  to  I  know 
not  what,  unless  it  be  —  to  ourselves,  as  greater,  wiser,  and 
holier  than  He.  We  have  done  up  to  this  time  what  we 
honestly  and  sincerely  believed  to  be  our  bounden  duty  to 
God,  and  therefore  to  man.  Let  us  not  now  swerve  from 
what  is  the  continuation  of  that  duty.  Quiet  is  to  succeed 
activity ;  stillness  to  follow  strife  ;  patience  to  tread  upon 
the  heels  of  conflict.  We  were  equal  to  the  one :  shall  we 
not  be  equal  to  the  other?  We  believed  that  we  were 
Christians,  while  we  labored  for  our  cause :  shall  we  not  be 
Christians  when  called  upon  to  acquiesce  in  God's  decision 
upon  that  cause  ? 

Nothing  which  occurs  on  earth  is  an  end.  It  is  only  a 
means,  leading  on  through  antecedents  and  consequents,  to 
the  great  and  final  purpose  of  human  redemption.  While 
that  purpose  is  consummating,  one  thing  follows  another 
according  to  God's  arrangement,  and  we  become  involved  in 
them.  Sometimes  they  are  pleasing  to  flesh  and  blood ; 
sometimes  we  suffer  severely  under  them.  But  whether 
agreeable  or  disagreeable,  they  come  alike  from  His  hand, 
who  has  promised  to  make  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  Him.  While  passing  through  them 
we  have  an  end  of  our  own,  which  is  for  us  above  all  other 
ends ;  and  that  is,  the  salvation  of  our  individual  souls  : 
and  we  must  take  care  that  we  do  not  perish  in  the  wilder- 
ness. Just  as  the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God  is  the 
savor  of  life  unto  life  to  some,  and  the  savor  of  death  unto 
death  to  others,  so  are  the  events  of  God's  providence  — 
this  sequence  of  which  I  am  speaking  —  temptations  in- 
volving our  future  condition  far  more  than  we  are  willing  to 
acknowledge.  We  are  now  in  a  very  trying  position  ;  one 
requiring  great  soberness  and  watchfulness ;  one  in  which 


484 


Be  still. 


we  may  be  tempted  with  great  ease  to  unbelief,  to  luke- 
warmness,  to  indifference,  to  coldness.  Our  besetting*  sins 
and  temptations  come  to  us,  at  this  time,  under  such 
specious  names  and  fair  exteriors,  that  it  requires  a  diviner 
touch,  even  that  of  Ithuriel  —  the  touch  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God  —  to  make  them  assume  their  real  shapes.  In  the 
midst  of  it  all,  God  calls  upon  us  to  "  be  still,"  and  know 
that  it  is  He  who  is  dealing  with  us.  Let  us  hear  Him. 
Let  us  trust  Him.  Once  when  Christ  was  on  earth,  He 
sent  His  disciples  away  from  Him  into  a  ship,  while  He  went 
up  into  a  mountain  apart  to  pray.  But  when  the  ship  was 
now  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  tossed  with  waves,  Jesus  went 
unto  them,  walking  on  the  sea.  "  And  when  the  disciples 
saw  Him  walking  on  the  sea,  they  were  troubled,  saying, 
It  is  a  spirit ;  and  they  cried  out  for  fear.  But  straight- 
way Jesus  spake  unto  them,  saying,  Be  of  good  cheer ;  it 
is  I ;  be  not  afraid."  1  Just  so  it  is  with  us.  We  are  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea,  tossed  with  the  waves,  and  the  wind 
contrary.  We  see  no  horizon :  all  is  dark  and  stormy. 
God  in  Christ,  Our  Father,  appears  before  us,  planting  His 
footsteps  in  the  sea,  and  riding  on  the  storm.  We  are 
troubled  at  His  presence.  We  do  not  recognize  Him  as 
God.  We  cry  out  for  grief  and  fear.  But  His  voice  comes 
to  us  across  the  tempest,  saying,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that 
I  am  God."  Receive  Me  into  your  hearts,  and  you  will  find 
that  the  winds  will  cease,  and  the  waves  be  calm.  Let  us 
welcome  Him,  my  beloved  people ;  and  be  not  afraid,  for 
He  is  our  present  help  in  every  trouble. 

But  you  may  say,  "It  is  easy  to  preach,  but  oh!  how 
hard  to  practice !  "  But  have  I  not,  my  people,  to  practice 
what  I  preach  ?  am  I  not  preaching  to  you  that  I  may  learn 
how  to  practice  P  Has  any  one  found  it  harder  to  be  still 
than  I,  and  to  admit  that  it  is  God  ?    I  find  it  just  as  hard 

i  S.  Matthew  xiv.  26,  27. 


Be  still. 


485 


to  practice  as  you  :  but  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty,  and  I  sball 
always  strive  to  do  tbat.  And  I  call  upon  you  to  do  it,  and 
will  endeavor  to  lead  you  in  the  way.  And  if  you  ask,  How 
is  it  to  be  done  ?  my  answer  is :  By  not  looking  at  the 
angry  sea,  or  listening  to  the  roaring  winds ;  but  by  looking 
upon  the  God  who  is  walking  there,  and  listening  to  His 
tender  voice  when  it  says  to  you,  "  It  is  I ;  be  not  afraid." 
We  shall  never  be  at  peace  so  long  as  we  keep  our  eyes 
fixed  upon  the  earth,  and  upon  man.  We  must  look  up  — 
up  to  God  where  He  "  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth, 
and  the  inhabitants  thereof  are  as  grasshoppers,"  1  —  ere 
we  can  attain  that  equanimity  which  becomes  the  child  of 
God  and  the  heir  of  heaven. 

Our  temptation  is,  my  beloved  fellow-Christians,  that  it 
is  not  our  duty  to  "  be  still,"  and  to  recognize  God  as  in 
the  midst  of  our  affairs.  We  rather  think  it  our  duty  to 
be  impatient  and  angry.  Does  man,  then,  rule  in  the  af- 
fairs of  nations  ?  Are  poor,  weak,  corrupt  creatures  like 
ourselves,  the  arbiters  of  the  present  and  the  future  ?  God 
forbid  !  and  every  one  of  you  would  echo  "  God  forbid  ! 93 
For  myself,  if  I  were  compelled  to  come  to  that  conclusion, 
I  should  be  in  despair.  I  should  have  no  hope  for  man.  or 
for  the  world  !  And  if  man  does  not  rule  the  world,  who 
does  ?  We  have  no  answer  left  us,  but  God  :  for  assuredly, 
while  we  acknowledge  the  power  of  the  Devil  and  admit  his 
influence  in  the  affairs  of  men,  we  cannot  believe  him  to  be 
supreme  over  a  world  in  which  Christ's  Church  is  en- 
shrined. And  if  God  rules  over  the  affairs  of  men,  and  is 
overturning,  overturning,  overturning,  "until  He  come 
whose  right  it  is  :  " 2  why  should  we  be  angry  because,  in 
the  onward  movement  of  His  chariot  wheels,  we  may  suf- 
fer, or  even  perish,  in  the  flesh?  Loss,  suffering,  chastise- 
ment, even  death,  are  no  tokens  of  God's  displeasure.  All 

1  Isaiah  xl.  22.  2  Ezekiel  xxi.  27. 


486 


Be  stilL 


His  chosen  ones  have  suffered.  All  whom  He  ever  loved, 
He  chastised.  Many  of  His  most  glorious  saints  perished 
by  violence.  Again  and  again  were  His  chosen  people  sub- 
jected to  direful  captivity.  We  have  no  ground  for  despair. 
Things  never  stand  still,  either  in  the  world,  or  in  the 
Church.  The  scenes  are  perpetually  shifting :  and  what  to- 
day is  encompassed  with  clouds  and  darkness,  with  mystery 
and  amazement,  is  to-morrow  rejoicing  in  light  and  sun- 
shine, God  having  lifted  up  the  light  of  His  countenance 
upon  it  and  made  it  clear  !  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am 
God,"  fills  up  the  measure  of  our  duty  ;  and  promises  us 
the  earliest  relief,  and  the  surest  comfort. 

"  Be  still,  my  soul !    Thy  God  doth  undertake 

To  guide  the  future,  as  He  has  the  past. 
Thy  hope,  thy  confidence,  let  nothing  shake, 

All  now  mysterious  shall  be  bright  at  last. 
Be  still,  my  soul !    The  waves  and  winds  still  know 
His  voice,  who  ruled  them  while  He  dwelt  below." 

October  15,  1865. 


tf ortp  fouttlj  Sermon, 


In  your  patie?ice possess  ye  your  souls.  —  S.  Luke  xxi.  19. 

nnHEEE  are  virtues  which  are  suitable  to  all  the  eircum- 
^~  stances  of  life  by  which  we  may  be  surrounded ;  duties, 
becoming  every  condition  which  God  may  place  us  under. 
There  is  a  time,  as  the  wise  man  tells  us,  for  every  thing :  a 
time  to  weep  and  a  time  to  laugh ;  a  time  to  mourn  and  a 
time  to  dance :  and  our  conduct  is  to  be  in  harmony  with 
our  times.  They  are  in  God's  hands  ;  and  as  He  appoints 
them,  so  must  we  adapt  ourselves  to  them.  What  would 
be  appropriate  under  one  set  of  circumstances  would  be 
very  inappropriate  under  another  set.  And  this  is  very 
much  dwelt  upon  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Both  in  the 
Old  and  the  Xew  Testament  the  people  of  God  are  com- 
manded to  watch  carefully  and  thoughtfully  the  chain  of 
events  in  which  they  are  for  the  time  involved ;  to  examine 
their  purpose  and  bearing,  to  study  their  meaning  and  col- 
oring :  and  to  adapt  their  behavior  unto  a  suitable  agree- 
ment with  them.  "  In  the  day  of  prosperity,"  says  the 
wise  man,  "  be  joyful,"  1  give  thanks  and  praise  to  God  for 
His  mercies  and  His  blessings.  Show  forth  gratitude  by 
sacrifices  of  every  kind.  On  the  contrary,  "  in  the  day  of 
adversity,"  when  darkness  lowers,  and  peril  threatens,  and 
the  light  of  God's  countenance  seems  hidden  from  us, 
"consider":2  be  sober  and  watchful,  earnest  and  patient. 
"When  victory  perched  upon  their  banner  and  their  enemies 

1  Eccles.  rii.  14.  2  Ibid. 


488 


Patience. 


fled  before  them,  they  were  to  sing  the  song  of  triumph 
with  timbrels  and  dances.  When  days  such  as  those  which 
illustrated  the  reign  of  Solomon  —  halcyon  days  of  peace 
and  plenty  —  smiled  upon  the  land,  they  were  to  manifest 
their  sense  of  God's  gracious  mercy  with  festivity  and  a 
profuse  return  to  Him  of  the  gifts  which  He  had  poured 
into  their  bosoms.  On  the  other  hand,  when  dangers 
threatened  their  homes,  when  enemies  thronged  in  rage 
upon  their  borders,  they  were  to  turn  to  God  in  humiliation 
and  prayer,  and  to  hide  themselves  under  the  shadow  of 
His  wings  until  their  calamities  were  overpast.  There  was 
a  proper  and  befitting  carriage  and  conversation  for  every 
varying  condition  of  events,  and  it  was  pressed  upon  them 
by  God  Himself,  through  the  mouth  of  Prophets  and  Apos- 
tles and  His  own  incarnate  Son. 

The  verse  from  which  I  preach  forms  a  part  of  the  in- 
struction which  our  Saviour  was  giving  His  disciples  in 
connection  with  the  days  of  fearful  darkness  which  were 
approaching,  —  days  which  had  been  foretold  ever  since  the 
time  of  Moses.  Soon  after  His  death  the  abomination  of 
desolation  was  to  stand  in  the  holy  place :  the  city  and  the 
Temple  were  to  be  razed  to  the  ground.  And  these  sad 
events  were  to  be  accompanied  by  unspeakable  miseries  and 
woeful  trials :  miseries  and  trials  so  great  that  He  could 
find  no  fitter  comparison  for  them  than  the  horrors  of  the 
Judgment  Day.  While  preparing  them  for  the  unheard-of 
calamities  which  should  attend  that  catastrophe,  He  ex- 
horts them  to  be  firm  and  undismayed  at  their  approach, 
and  to  meet  them  as  reasonable  creatures  and  children  of 
the  Most  High.  What  were  they  to  tremble  at,  seeing 
that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigned,  and  that  they  were 
His  chosen?  After  detailing  the  horrors  of  those  days; 
the  commotions  and  tumults  and  terrors  which  should  her- 
ald them ;  the  convulsions  of  Nature ;  the  signs  in  heaven 


Patience,  489 

and  on  earth;  the  famine,  the  pestilence  which  should  ac- 
company them  :  He  closes  with  the  calm  injunction  of  our 
text,  "  In  your  patience  possess  ye  your  souls." 

What  our  Lord  enjoined  upon  the  disciples  who  walked 
with  Him  when  upon  earth,  does  He  likewise  enjoin  upon 
all  who,  like  them,  may  be  passing  through  days  of  dark- 
ness and  of  affliction.  Those  are  always  times  which  re- 
quire special  watchfulness  and  consideration  on  our  part,  — 
special  attention  to  our  souls,  and  a  cultivation  of  the  grace 
of  patience  up  to  the  very  highest  point  to  which  it  can  be 
carried.  "  Affliction  cometh  not  forth  of  the  dust,  neither 
doth  trouble  spring  out  of  the  ground." 1  They  come  from 
God,  whether  they  be  personal  or  national,  and  are  meant 
to  exercise  our  patience.  At  such  times  therefore,  and  un- 
der such  circumstances,  —  especially  if  they  be  long  con- 
tinued, if  they  extend  over  weary  years  and  we  can  see  no 
prospect  of  their  ending,  —  it  becomes  manifest  that  God 
intends  patience  to  have  her  perfect  work,  and  the  exhorta- 
tion becomes  most  important,  "  In  your  patience  possess  ye 
your  souls." 

In  examining  this  text,  you  will  perceive  that  its  wording 
is  peculiar.  It  is  not  a  simple  exhortation,  "  In  patience 
possess  ye  your  souls ; "  but  it  implies  that,  having  already 
exhibited  patience,  you  are,  in  the  exercise  of  that  patience, 
to  perforin  a  particular  work, — you  are  to  attain  a  point  of 
great  importance  to  yourselves  and  to  the  glory  of  Him 
who  grants  you  the  gift  of  patience.  And  that  point  is,  to 
"  possess  your  souls,"  —  to  have  them  so  in  your  own  keep- 
ing, that  you  will  not  only  save  them  at  the  last,  but  be 
masters  of  them  while  subjected  to  those  evils  which  are 
brought  upon  you  for  your  discipline  and  trial. 

There  have  been  given  us  two  instruments  by  which  we 
may  be  masters  of  ourselves,  —  reason  and  faith :  the  one 

1  Job  v.  6. 


49Q 


Patience. 


distinguishing  us  from  the  brutes,  the  other  lifting  us 
above  visible  things.  Either  of,  these,  when  properly  exer- 
cised, can  place  us  above  the  frowns  of  fortune,  and  make 
us  rise  superior  to  those  calamities  which  come  upon  us 
from  the  vicissitudes  of  temporal  things.  It  shows  but  a 
very  scant  exercise  of  our  rational  powers,  when  we  permit 
ourselves  to  lose  the  control  of  ourselves  in  the  day  of  ad- 
versity. "  If  thou  faint  in  the  day  of  adversity,"  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Bible,  "  thy  strength  is  small/'1  —  strength, 
not  only  of  grace  but  of  reason  :  for  reason  is  given  us,  not 
merely  to  guide  us  in  the  path  of  life,  but  to  sustain  us 
when  peril  encompasses  us,  when  troubles  surround  us, 
when  fears  harass  us,  when  sorrow  bows  us  to  the  ground. 
It  is  not  as  sufficient  as  grace ;  but  among  the  Pagans  it 
went  far  to  make  many  of  them  worthy  examples  of  fortitude 
and  quiet  possession  of  their  souls  in  the  hour  of  calamity. 
Fear,  agitation,  trembling,  forfeiture  of  principle,  inconsist- 
ency of  conduct,  loss  of  character  in  times  of  evil,  are  all 
unbecoming  a  being  who  has  nothing  more  than  reason  to 
guide  him :  how  much  more  unbecoming  one  who  claims  to 
have  faith  in  addition  to  reason ;  who  has  not  only  the  nat- 
ural strength  which  comes  with  birth  and  culture,  but  the 
supernatural  strength  which  comes  from  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God.  Such  persons  fall  short  of  the  powers  which  God  has 
given  them,  and  fail  in  the  very  moment  when  they  most 
need  those  powers. 

The  grace  which  we  are  to  exercise  in  times  like  these 
upon  which  we  have  fallen,  is  patience.  God  is  working 
out  wonders  of  His  own ;  wonders  which  we  shall  see  and 
acknowledge  in  due  time.  We  can  show  our  faith  in  His 
wisdom  and  goodness  by  waiting  upon  His  will,  and,  while 
waiting,  by  possessing  our  souls;  keeping  them  calm  and 
trustful  through  all  the  changes  which  may  occur  around 

1  Prov.  xxiv.  10. 


Patience, 


491 


us ;  hopeful  through  the  darkest  hour ;  cheerful  when  all 
things  seem  against  us.  .Our  great  advantages  of  civiliza- 
tion, of  education,  and  of  Christianity,  are  lost  to  us  un]ess 
they  give  us  these  qualities  when  we  need  them.  And 
when  special  grace  has  been  vouchsafed  us  to  wait  upon 
God,  we  are  recreant  to  our  profession  if  we  lose  our  Chris- 
tian equanimity  and  fortitude  because  He  delays  the  mani- 
festation of  His  love  and  mercy.  What  is  our  discipline, 
if  every  thing  is  to  happen  just  as  we  think  it  should ;  if 
no  crosses  are  to  meet  us  by  the  way ;  if  no  troubles  are  to 
harass  our  path ;  if  no  afflictions  are  to  cast  their  dark 
shadows  upon  our  households ;  if  no  desolation  is  to  sweep 
athwart  the  track  of  our  country's  prosperity  ?  What  call 
is  there  for  the  exercise  of  our  patience,  if  that  patience  is 
never  to  be  tried  either  by  man  or  God  ?  How  can  we  esti- 
mate its  value,  unless  it  be  weighed  in  the  balances  with 
adversity  and  temptation?  We  may  have  the  grace,  but 
we  shall  not  know  it;  we  may  be  blessed  with  the  ele- 
ments of  a  high  Christian  character,  but  it  will  never  be 
manifested  to  the  world  for  the  glory  of  God.  Calamity, 
trouble,  affliction,  perplexity,  are  all  necessary  to  bring  out 
the  beauties  of  grace,  just  as  a  dark  background  throws 
into  prominent  relief  the  beauties  of  nature  and  of  art. 

Patience  has,  like  all  other  Christian  graces,  its  grada- 
tions. Its  perfectness  is  not  reached  at  once.  Its  first 
step  is  in  silent  submission  to  God's  will.  We  are  quiet 
under  His  dispensations ;  we  say  nothing  in  contradiction 
to  them ;  we  do  not  murmur  in  words  or  in  acts ;  we  are 
dumb  aud  open  not  our  mouths  :  but  still  are  there  heights 
of  patience  above  this,  which  we  must  reach  ere  we  can  be 
said  in  our  patience  to  possess  our  souls,  to  be  masters  of 
them,  to  have  them  under  our  control.  The  second  step  is 
when  we  accept  with  thankfulness  the  strokes  of  God's 
fatherly  rod ;  when  we  can  see  His  loving  hand  in  every 


492 


Patience. 


blow  He  gives  us ;  when  we  can  say,  out  of  grateful  hearts, 
"  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted."  1  This  is 
patience  refined,  purified,  rising  to  a  clearer  perception  of 
God's  character  as  a  God  of  love ;  of  God's  dealings  as  a 
Father,  tender,  pitiful,  compassionate.  This  prepares  us 
for  the  highest  attainment,  when  we  may  be  said,  in  the 
language  of  our  Saviour,  in  our  patience  to  "  possess  "  our 
souls.  We  have  climbed  to  this  height  when  we  have 
reached  a  serious  cheerfulness  under  trials  of  whatever 
kind,  rejoicing  in  tribulation,  and  counting  it  all  joy  when 
we  fall  into  divers  temptations.  As  faith  gives  us  the  pos- 
session of  Christ,  so  does  this  patience  give  us  possession 
of  ourselves.  An  unbelieving  man  has  no  hold  upon 
Christ :  so  an  impatient  man  has  no  hold  upon  himself ; 
"  for  what  title  soever  we  have  to  our  own  souls,  we  have 
no  possession  of  them  without  patience."  Then  only  are 
we  masters  of  ourselves  (and  our  souls  are  ourselves),  when 
nothing  can  disturb  us  which  is  connected  with  the  earth : 
our  treasures,  our  hearts,  our  hopes,  being  all  in  heaven, 
whitber  our  souls  will  follow  them,  and  find  them  in  the 
day  of  the  consummation  of  all  things. 

This  is  our  work,  my  beloved  people,  in  the  days  which 
are  continuing  to  darken  over  us.  The  Lord  has  promised 
us  that  "  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  at  evening  time  it  shall 
be  light :  " 2  but  evening  time  may  be  yet  distant ;  and 
meanwhile  we  must  cultivate  patience  and  possess  our 
souls,  even  though  all  our  other  possessions  be  taken  from 
us.  Our  souls  are  our  own,  out  of  the  reach  of  any  man, 
and  cannot  be  lost,  unless  we  lose  them  ourselves.  And 
what  is  more  encouraging  to  us  than  all,  is  the  mysterious 
fact,  that  days  of  sadness  and  of  adversity  are  just  those 
which  are  most  propitious  to  the  saving  of  our  souls.  Man 
seems  to  be  so  constituted  that  days  of  prosperity  and  of 

1  Psalm  cxix.  71.  2  Zechariah  xiv.  7. 


Patience, 


493 


ease  draw  him  away  from  any  thoughts  of  his  soul ;  fix  his 
affections  upon  things  of  this  world ;  employ  him  in  mat- 
ters which  are  sensual  and  earthly ;  turn  his  mind  from  his 
most  solemn  relations,  —  those  to  God  and  eternity.  But 
when  the  world  is  tumultuous  and  agitated ;  when  sorrow 
and  distress  are  all  around  us ;  when  the  dark  clouds  which 
cover  the  heavens  seem  thick  as  night  and  gvm  no  signs  of 
breaking ;  when  Death  is  frequent  and  always  threatening ; 
when  there  is  little  joy  to  be  found  in  home  or  society,  and 
no  rest  for  the  tired  spirit :  then  is  it  that  the  soul  looms 
into  importance  both  for  this  world  and  for  the  world  to 
come.  It  is  felt  to  contain  the  elements  of  true  greatness ; 
to  be  the  sustaining  power  of  the  whole  man  ;  to  rise  supe- 
rior to  outward  things  and  create  a  world  of  its  own  with- 
in the  bosom ;  to  be  capable  of  serenity  in  the  midst  of 
tumult ;  of  calmness  in  the  fury  of  the  storm ;  of  courage 
when  all  hearts  are  failing ;  of  self-control  when  things  are 
combining  to  shake  its  constancy;  of  firmness  when  all  is 
tottering  around  it.  Above  all,  it  is  found  to  have  a  re- 
newed existence  beyond  the  grave,  where  every  thing  which 
made  this  life  agreeable  and  desirable  is  offered  to  it  as  an 
eternal  inheritance,  enhanced  by  charms  which  this  earth 
could  not  bestow,  and  stripped  of  those  qualities  which 
made  them  perishable  and  corruptible.  These  powers  of 
the  soul  manifest  themselves  to  us  in  our  days  of  dark- 
ness, just  as  the  stars  shine  brightest  when  night  descends 
upon  the  earth  and  blots  out  the  garish  brightness  of  the 
day.  They  constitute  the  whole  glory  of  the  time  of  sor- 
row and  affliction,  and  our  eyes  are  riveted  upon  them  as 
our  only  light  and  joy.  We  find  within  ourselves  the 
source  of  our  comfort  and  our  hope ;  and  learn,  perhaps  for 
the  first  time,  that  our  real  treasure  of  joy,  both  present 
and  future,  is  locked  up  within  ourselves,  and  has  but  little 
permanent  connection  with  things  outward  and  visible. 


494 


Patience, 


During  the  continuance  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  we  are  living,  patience  is  the  grace  which  most 
becomes  us.  We  can  do  no  more  than  we  are  doing"  to 
change  our  condition,  except  wait  upon  God  in  cheerful 
submission.  If  He  designs  patience  to  have  her  perfect 
work,  so  be  it.  It  is  best  for  us,  for  He  makes  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  those  who  love  and  fear  Him. 
His  purposes  cannot  be  worked  out  in  such  brief  time  as 
our  impatience  desires.  Even  though  all  His  will  be  to 
bless  us  and  prosper  us, — which  I  most  firmly  believe  it 
is,  —  He  may  not  be  able,  consistently  with  His  mode  of 
action,  to  bring  His  purposes  to  pass  at  once.  We  must  be 
patient ;  and  in  our  patience  we  must  possess  our  souls. 
We  must  possess  them  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  for  the 
uses  of  society.  We  must  keep  up  the  superiority  of  rea- 
son ;  must  be  sober,  calm,  earnest,  resolute ;  must  not  per- 
mit passion  to  overcome  us,  nor  fear  to  unnerve  us,  nor 
grief  to  overwhelm  us,  nor  the  loss  of  worldly  things  to 
cast  us  down.  We  are  contending  for  great  things ;  and 
we  must  be  great  ourselves,  great  especially  in  the  posses- 
sion of  our  souls.  The  greatest  men  of  the  earth  have 
been  distinguished  for  this  self-possession  in  the  midst  of 
trial  and  adversity.  It  constituted  the  greatness  of  the 
ancient  Cato,  and  was  the  controlling  power  of  our  peerless 
Washington.  In  such  a  conflict  as  this,  passion  is  of  no 
moment.  It  only  disfigures  the  scene  of  action.  Patience, 
endurance,  self-control,  self-possession,  are  our  qualities  for 
this  world.  But  above  all  should  every  one  of  us,  in  our 
patience,  see  to  the  salvation  of  our  souls,  —  to  that 
higher  possession  which  makes  them  ours  forever :  ours 
not  only  while  we  are  struggling  here,  but  ours  while  we 
are  resting  from  all  conflicts  in  the  grave.  God  has  made 
full  provision  for  their  salvation.  He  has  given  His  most 
priceless  possession,  His  only  and  well-beloved  Son,  for 


Patience.  495 

their  redemption  from  sin  and  death  and  hell;  and  that 
Son  has  proclaimed  to  the  world  :  "  Him  that  cometh  to  me 
I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  1  cc  In  your  patience  "  in  these 
days  of  trial  and  of  adversity,  employ  yourselves  in  this 
great  work.  If  every  thing  else  should  fail,  and  you  should 
yet  succeed  in  that,  it  will  have  been  to  you  a  work  of 
greatness  far  exceeding  any  thing  you  could  have  achieved. 
Christ  said,  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain 
the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  "  2  and  it  is  a  ques- 
tion which  you  should  weigh,  and  ponder  upon,  in  these 
days  when  God  is  trying  us  in  the  furnace  of  affliction. 
Whatever  else  you  lose,  do  not  lose  your  own  souls  ! 

August  22,  1864. 
1  S.  John  vi.  37.  2  S.  Mark  viii.  36. 


» 


tfort^fiftlj  Sermon. 

For  this  commandment  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  it  is  not 
hidden  from  thee,  neither  is  it  far  off.  It  is  not  in  heaven,  that  thou 
shouldest  say,  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to  heaven,  and  bring  it  unto 
us,  that  we  may  hear  it,  and  do  it  ?  Neither  is  it  beyoiid  the  sea, 
that  thou  shouldest  say,  Who  shall  go  over  the  sea  for  us,  and 
bring  it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  it,  and  do  it  ?  But  the  word  is 
very  nigh  unto  thee,  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart,  that  thou  mayest 
do  it.  —  Deuteronomy  xxx.  11-14. 

OELDOM,  my  beloved  hearers,  have  we  been  summoned  to 
^  humiliation  and  prayer  under  more  impressive  auspices 
than  those  which  have  gathered  us  together  this  day  in  this 
sanctuary  of  God.  The  Representatives  of  a  Sovereign 
State,  newly  come  from  their  constituents,  and  carrying  up 
to  the  Capital  the  detail  of  their  sufferings  and  their  trials, 
"  Resolved,"  as  their  first  complete  act  of  legislation,  that 
this  day  should  be  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation, 
and  prayer,  upon  which  the  people  of  the  State  should  re- 
turn thanks  for  God's  mercies  and  blessings,  should  confess 
their  sins,  and  should  importune  His  favor.  In  addition  to 
this  "  Resolution,"  the  Legislature  requested  the  Governor 
to  issue  his  Proclamation  calling  upon  the  whole  people  to 
observe  this  day  of  solemn  supplication,  and  with  one  heart 
and  one  voice  to  humble  themselves  at  the  Mercy-seat. 
And  this  Proclamation  has  been  set  forth  in  most  eloquent 
and  Christian  language,  giving  us  the  key-note  to  the  ser- 
vices of  the  day,  and  furnishing  the  materials  out  of  which 
we  are  to  weave  our  roll  of  lamentation  and  of  woe.  Our 


On  the  State  Fast-day,  497 


State  authorities  have  done  their  duty  in  most  solemn 
fashion.  God  grant  that  the  Churches  and  the  congrega- 
tions of  this  Christian  country  may  not  be  one  whit  behind 
them  in  their  appreciation  of  the  necessity  and  value  of  this 
universal  humiliation. 

Such  an  authoritative  and  earnest  appeal  would  not  have 
been  made,  my  hearers,  to  the  people  of  our  State,  unless 
there  had  been  ample  ground  for  it  in  the  condition  of  the 
country.  Legislative  bodies  are  not  wont  to  occupy  them- 
selves with  the  arrangement  of  religious  services,  as  their 
earliest  act  of  importance.  Their  hearts,  at  their  first 
meeting  together  after  a  long  separation,  are  generally 
more  full  of  friendly  greeting  and  cheerful  memories ;  and 
their  minds,  of  the  earthly  topics  of  interest  which  concern 
themselves  and  their  constituents.  Each  legislator  brings 
with  him  some  favorite  measure  which  he  deems  most  im- 
portant for  the  welfare  of  the  State ;  and  he  rushes  at  once 
to  put  in  motion  the  machinery  which  is  to  give  it  success. 
The  Message  of  the  Executive,  and  the  documents  which 
accompany  it,  throw  at  once  before  them  matters  of  new 
and  deep  importance,  which  usually  absorb  their  attention, 
and  give  rise  to  immediate  discussion.  When  therefore,  as 
in  this  case,  all  these  matters  of  private  interest  and  of 
public  concern  are  unanimously  put  aside  for  the  sake  of 
urging  upon  the  people  a  solemn  religious  exercise,  it  is  a 
striking  proof  that  these  legislators  must  have  left  their 
homes  deeply  impressed  with  the  calamities  which  threat- 
ened their  friends,  and  with  the  necessity  of  a  public  invo- 
cation of  God's  help  in  saving  their  desolated  country  from 
still  further  sufferings.  Man  had  labored  and  struggled  in 
vain:  he  must  now  turn  to  God;  and,  humbling  himself  to 
the  dust,  and  confessing  his  guilt,  must  implore  His  Divine 0 
mercy. 

And  surely  there  is  enough  in  our  present  condition  ttb 

32 


49  3  0#  ^  .SV^afe  Fast-day. 

humble  us  into  the  very  dust :  and  in  nothing  more  than 
in  our  own  conduct.  As  the  Governor  tells  us  in  his  Proc- 
lamation, we  are  in  the  wilderness,  suffering,  and  yet  sin- 
ning; under  the  covenant  mercy  and  guidance  of  a  God  of 
truth,  and  yet  forever  distrusting  Him ;  receiving  many 
tokens  of  His  loving-kindness,  and  yet  murmuring  the 
moment  any  thing  seems  to  be  against  us.  For  this  un- 
faithfulness and  impatience  is  He  chastising  us  ;  and,  until 
we  are  more  submissive  to  Him  and  more  resigned  under  His 
rod,  He  will  continue  to  chasten  us.  We  will  not  see  that 
it  is  with  God  we  have  to  deal,  and  not  with  man.  We  will 
not  recognize,  as  fully  as  we  should,  that  our  controversy 
lies  at  the  foot  of  His  Throne,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
any  earthly  power.  We  will  descend  into  the  miserable 
arena  of  political  strife,  instead  of  looking  up  to  Him  who 
sitteth  in  the  Heavens,  and  in  whose  eyes  the  nations  of  the 
earth  are  but  as  the  dust  in  the  balance.  We  will  permit 
our  hearts  and  our  spirits  to  be  agitated  and  irritated  by 
matters  with  which  we  had  better  have  no  concern,  instead 
of  soaring  quietly  above  them,  and  dwelling  in  the  atmo- 
sphere of  dignity  and  of  peace  which  most  becomes  us. 
We  should  have  no  longer  any  thing  to  do  with  man,  in  the 
way  of  strife  or  contention.  We  should  consider  ourselves 
in  the  hands  of  God,  our  Father,  and  our  providential 
Euler;  and  should  patiently  await  His  dealings  with  us. 
A  child  might  as  wisely  quarrel  with  the  rod  in  a  parent's 
hand,  as  we  with  the  agents  whom  God  is  using  to  punish 
and  to  humble  us.  A  man  might  as  well  endeavor  to  break 
in  pieces  the  stone  against  which  he  has  hurt  his  foot,  as 
we  to  kick  against  the  pricks  which  God  has  put  in  our 
way,  to  make  us  walk  in  the  path  He  designs  for  us. 
When  we  act  in  this  senseless  manner,  we  are  not  only 
warring  against  our  own  prosperity,  but  against  the  pre- 
ordinations of  Him  who  ruleth  every  thing  to  the  purposes 


On  the  State  Fast-day, 


499 


of  His  own  will.  By  such  action  we  run  against  the  thick 
bosses  of  God's  buckler,  and  are  destroyed. 

For,  if  you  will  consider  the  words  of  the  Proclamation 
under  which  we  are  here  gathered  together,  you  will  per- 
ceive that  the  great  causes  which  have  led  to  this  day  of 
fasting  and  humiliation  have  come  directly  from  His  hand 
who  rules  the  natural  world,  and  at  whose  bidding  the  rain 
descends  upon  the  evil  and  upon  the  good,  and  the  sun 
shines  upon  the  just  and  upon  the  unjust.  "  Our  corn  and 
our  oil  have  failed  of  their  abundance ;  our  flocks  and  our 
herds  are  diminished.  The  cry  of  want  is  heard  in  our 
land  :  the  manna  and  the  quails  come  not  yet."  These  are 
the  motives  which  have  induced  our  legislators  to  call  us 
to  humiliation ;  and  these,  surely,  come  from  God.  Man 
has  no  control  over  the  Seasons  :  they  are  altogether  be- 
yond his  influence.  In  our  own  beautiful  prayers,  we  say  : 
"  0  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  who  by  thy  gracious  provi- 
dence dost  cause  the  former  and  the  latter  rain  to  descend 
upon  the  earth,  that  it  may  bring  forth  fruit  for  the  use  of 
man  "  :  and  again  :  "  0  Lord  God,  who  hast  justly  hum- 
bled us  by  thy  late  visitation  of  us  with  immoderate  rain 
and  waters ;  "  and  again,  in  our  service  of  Thanksgiving 
for  the  labors  of  the  husbandman  :  "  0  most  merciful 
Father,  who  hast  blessed  the  labors  of  the  husbandman  in 
the  returns  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth :  "  so  that,  in  our  Li- 
turgical Services,  we  have  beforehand  ascribed  plenty  and 
want,  scarcity  and  abundance,  to  God  and  not  to  man. 
And  it  is  the  same  with  sickness  and  with  death,  which 
have  visited  our  State  very  severely  during  the  past  year. 
They  come,  most  assuredly,  from  God ;  and  are  used  by  Him 
as  instruments  for  the  chastening  of  His  children,  —  of 
those  whom  He  loves,  and  cares  for,  and  would  keep  near 
unto  Himself.  Man  is  far  below  any  power  of  this  sort. 
He  may  rule  in  the  policies  of  earth.    He  may  regulate 


500  On  the  State  Fast-day, 

such  things  as  trade  and  commerce,  as  economy  and  wealth, 
as  Law  and  Government :  but  thus  far  can  he  go,  and  no 
further.  The  heavens  are  out  of  his  reach.  The  clouds 
which  float  in  the  heavens  obey  not  his  commands.  Pesti- 
lence moves  not  at  his  decree  ;  and  Death  submits  not  to 
his  bidding.  When  Dearth,  and  Famine,  and  Poverty,  and 
Disease  are  concerned,  man  has  to  contend  with  a  higher 
Power  than  his  fellow-man,  —  is  being  chastised  by  a  rod 
which  a  fellow- mortal's  hand  is  not  permitted  to  wield. 
And  when  our  fasting  and  our  humiliation  and  our  prayers 
are  called  for,  to  help  us  under  calamities  springing  from 
these  sources,  we  ought  to  know  at  once  in  Whose  hand  the 
rod  is,  and  Who  hath  appointed  it.  In  other  respects,  things 
have  been  better  with  us  than  they  promised  to  be.  Much 
of  our  landed  property  has  been  restored  to  its  owners ;  our 
industry  has  been  less  interfered  with  than  it  was,  and  our 
trade  and  our  commerce  have  resumed,  in  some  measure, 
their  ancient  channels ;  our  civil  courts  have  been  reopened 
and  are  administering  a  measure  of  justice.  For  these 
things  we  should  be  thankful ;  and  if  it  be  said,  that  a 
dark  cloud  seems  to  be  gathering  over  us  in  the  future,  my 
answer  would  be  :  "  Leave  the  future  to  take  care  of  itself. 
We  are  concerned  to-day  with  humiliation  for  the  past, 
and  with  prayer  under  the  sufferings  of  the  present.  Let 
us  not  look  at  the  clouds,  but  at  Him  who  rideth  upon  the 
clouds.  Let  us  not  fear  the  darkness,  but  enter  into  it,  — 
if  it  be  our  duty,  —  knowing  that  God  often  dwelleth  in 
the  thick  darkness. 

Our  controversy,  therefore,  my  beloved  people,  is  with 
God,  and  not  with  man  :  for  it  is  He  who  has  frowned  upon 
our  labor,  and  who  has  permitted  our  atmosphere  to  be 
laden  with  disease.  And  it  is  a  great  point  to  have  satisfied 
you  of  this ;  for  it  removes  from  your  hearts  much  of  the 
pride  and  bitterness  which  might  hinder  you  from  humbling 


On  the  State  Fast-day.  301 

yourselves  in  the  House  of  God  this  day.  Man  is  much 
more  unwilling  to  bow  himself  down  before  his  fellow-man, 
than  before  God.  With  his  fellow-man  he  enters  into  con- 
troversy about  right  and  wrong,  about  justice  and  injustice, 
about  merit  and  demerit :  but  with  God,  if  he  be  at  all 
right-minded,  he  raises  no  such  questions.  He  bows  his 
head  and  his  heart  at  once  before  an  all-wise  and  all-merci- 
ful God,  who  knoweth  what  is  best  for  His  creatures  ;  and 
who  has  promised  to  make  every  thing  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  Him.  He  quarrels  with  men  :  he 
dares  not  quarrel  with  God.  Being  satisfied  then  that  it  is 
God  who  has  been  inflicting  upon  you  the  successive  blows 
under  which  you  are  suffering,  you  come  to-day  in  a  teach- 
able temper,  acknowledging  that  you  have,  in  some  way, 
offended  God ;  and  praying  that  He  may  send  His  Holy 
Spirit  upon  you,  to  search  your  hearts  as  with  the  candle 
of  the  Lord,  and  manifest  to  you  your  unfaithfulness. 

Our  being  assembled  together  in  this  place  this  day,  is 
an  evidence  to  us  that  we  ourselves  acknowledge  and  feel 
the  need  of  humiliation  :  and  yet,  each  one  may  be  a  little 
doubtful  what  has  been  our  offence  as  a  people.  As  indi- 
viduals, we  are  all  conscious  of  our  own  particular  sins; 
and  of  those  we  must  repent :  but  it  is  not  about  those 
that  we  are  to-day  concerned.  We  are  in  the  temples  of 
God  this  day  as  a  people,  not  as  individuals.  We  have  met 
to  inquire  of  God  wherein  we  have  sinned  against  Him  as 
a  people,  and  to  make  our  confessions  and  regain  His  favor. 
I  will  endeavor,  so  far  as  I  have  received  light,  to  point  out, 
with  great  diffidence  and  humility,  some  of  the  things  in  our 
conduct  which  may  have  offended  God,  and  kept  upon  us 
His  hand  of  chastisement. 

Have  we  submitted  to  God's  decision  of  the  conflict  in 
which  we  were,  for  so  many  years,  eng'aged  ?  This  is  the 
first  question  which  comes  up ;  and  it  has  reference  simply 


502  On  the  State  Fast-day. 

to  God,  and  to  the  spirit  of  our  minds  towards  Him. 
Without  entering  at  all  anew  into  the  merits  or  demerits, 
the  right  or  the  wrong,  the  justice  or  the  injustice,  of  that 
controversy,  which  have  passed  out  of  our  hands  into  the 
hands  of  God,  and  have  hecome  a  matter  of  eternal  and 
immutable  morality,  we  will  all  acknowledge  that  the  con- 
flict is  ended,  and  ended  by  God,  in  a  manner  adverse  to  our 
wishes  and  to  our  interests.  God  has  permitted  it  to  end 
in  one  way,  and  not  in  another ;  and  we  must  be  convinced 
of  that.  The  circumstances  which  accompanied  its  end 
were  so  plain  and  palpable,  that  God's  hand  could  not  be 
mistaken  as  being  in  it.  Have  we,  my  question  is,  acqui- 
esced in  our  hearts  in  God's  decision,  or  have  we  mur- 
mured and  rebelled  against  His  action,  and  counted  it  un- 
just and  injurious  ?  I  do  not  ask  whether  it  has  changed 
your  opinion  of  the  justice  or  injustice  of  your  action  \  — 
that  has  nothing  to  do  with  it :  or,  whether  it  has  caused 
you  to  alter  your  views  about  the  institution  of  slavery, 
which  it  overturned  ;  —  that  likewise  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it :  but,  whether  you  have  submitted  to  God's  will 
about  the  termination  of  the  conflict.  I  know  that,  in 
many  places  and  in  many  hearts,  there  has  been  an  open 
quarrel  with  God  upon  this  point;  —  that  He  has  been 
charged  with  injustice,  with  a  false  view  of  right  and 
wrong,  with  cruelty  to  the  innocent  and  the  godly.  And 
while  such  feelings  as  these,  and  such  language  as  this, 
have  not  been,  to  any  common  degree,  openly  indulged  in, 
may  there  not  have  been  enough  of  it  seen  by  God,  in  the 
recesses  of  the  heart,  to  arouse  His  indignation  and  excite 
His  anger.  For,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  such  murmuring 
and  want  of  acquiescence  in  God's  dealings  argue  faithless- 
ness, and  distrust  in  His  love  for  His  people.  We  have 
only  to  turn  to  the  narrative  of  the  exodus  of  the  Children 
of  Israel  and  their  wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  to  per- 


On  the  State  Fast-day,  503 

ceive  how  continually  God's  anger  was  aroused,  and  His 
indignation  excited,  because  His  people  would  not  submit  to 
His  guidance,  and  acquiesce  in  His  acts.  God's  people  must 
be  always  tried ;  they  will  never  be  fit  otherwise  to  be  His 
people  :  and  acquiescence  in  His  dealings,  —  perfect  trust 
and  faith  in  His  proceedings,  —  is  the  test  of  their  faith. 
For  God  is  working  out  larger  ends  than  those  which  con- 
cern us  as  a  people.  His  ends  embrace  the  Universe  :  His 
purposes  are  co-extensive  with  Time.  What  may  happen 
to  us,  is  of  great  moment  to  us,  because  it  is  a  trial  of 
our  faith :  but  is,  at  the  same  time,  only  a  link  in  the 
chain  of  events  which  is  working  out  a  grander  and 
sublimer  purpose,  in  which  we  ourselves  are  at  last  to 
be  most  intimately  concerned.  The  lesser  end  —  our  con- 
cerns —  is  absorbed  in  the  greater :  and  if  we  have  a  sound 
and  truly  Christian  trust  in  God,  and  in  His  purposes  in 
Christ  Jesus,  we  should  feel  that  He  is  right  in  all  He 
does,  —  gloriously  right,  divinely  right ;  and  that  our  duty 
is,  however  much  His  action  may  militate  against  our  feel- 
ings or  our  hopes,  to  say  :  "  It  is  well ;  for  God  has  done 
it."  It  may  be  that  we  have  not  toned  our  hearts  to  this 
Christian  submission ;  and  that  our  heavenly  Father  may 
see  in  us  an  unbelief,  and  a  mistrust,  which  have  excited 
His  anger  and  renewed  His  indignation.  Let  us  this  day 
examine  our  hearts  upon  this  point;  and  if  guilty,  let  us 
bow  before  His  footstool,  and  say  in  sincerity  of  soul : 
"  Not  my  will,  but  Thine,  0  God,  be  done." 

Have  we  not  cherished  in  our  hearts  a  feeling  of  bitter- 
ness and  uncharitableness  against  those  who  have  been 
God's  human  instruments  in  bringing  upon  us  humiliation, 
shame,  poverty,  exile,  the  various  evils  to  which  we,  as  a 
people,  have  been  subjected  ?  Have  we  not  deemed  it  right 
to  be  unforgiving  ?  Have  we  not  cherished  in  our  hearts  a 
desire  for  their  being  punished  in  their  turn,  by  God  or  by 


504  On  the  State  Fast-day. 

man?  And  if  so,  can  you  suppose  that  God  will  permit  His 
children  —  those  who  are  the  professed  followers  and  imita- 
tors of  His  Son  —  to  indulge  such  feelings,  without  inflict- 
ing further  chastisement  upon  them  ?  How  did  our  Messed 
Saviour  act,  when  there  was  heaped  upon  Him  every  shame 
and  every  injury  which  man  could  inflict  ?  "  Father,  for- 
give them :  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 1  What  was 
His  teaching,  persistently,  and  the  teaching  of  His  Apos- 
tles ?  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them 
that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for 
them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you."2 
"  For  this  is  thankworthy,  if  a  man  for  conscience  toward 
God  endure  grief,  suffering  wrongfully.  For  what  glory  is 
it,  if,  when  ye  he  buffeted  for  your  faults,  ye  shall  take  it 
patiently?  but  if,  when  ye  do  well,  and  suffer  for  it,  ye  take 
it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable  with  God."3  This  is  the 
Christian's  example ;  and  this  is  what  God  expects  from  us ; 
and  if  He  find  it  not,  and  care  for  us,  will  produce  it  in  us, 
through  chastisements.  The  more  right  we  may  think  we 
have  been,  the  more  incumbent  upon  us  it  is,  if  we  desire 
to  be  acceptable  with  God,  to  imitate  these  feelings  of  the 
Master  and  His  Disciples.  It  is  hard,  I  know,  upon  flesh 
and  blood :  but  grace  is  stronger  than  these ;  and  neither 
flesh  and  blood,  nor  the  feelings  of  flesh  and  blood,  can  ever 
inherit  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  It  is  for  yourselves,  my 
people,  that  I  am  pleading,  —  for  your  own  Christian  char- 
acters; for  your  own  earthly  peace  and  welfare;  for  your 
deliverance  from  the  rod;  for  your  eternal  salvation.  Con- 
quer these  feelings !  Look  above  the  instruments ;  and  see 
a  loving  Father's  face,  —  loving  while  He  strikes,  pitying 
while  He  bruises.  Hear  the  words  of  the  Lesson  which  we 
have  read  to-day :  "  But  if  ye  be  without  chastisement, 

1  S.  Luke  xxiii.  34.  2  S.  Matt.  v.  44. 

8  1  S.  Pet.  ii.  19,  20. 


Oji  the  State  Fast-day.  505 

whereof  all  are  partakers,  then  are  ye  bastards,  and  not 
sons.  "  1  Let  this  day's  humiliation  place  yon  right  before 
God,  with  purified  hearts,  and  spin  ts  filled  with  charity  for 
all  men  :  —  Charity,  that  divinest  gift,  which  is  above  even 
Faith  and  Hope. 

Have  we  not  rushed  back,  as  a  people,  to  the  worship  of 
onr  old  idols,  —  to  an  adoration  of  pride,  of  haughtiness,  of 
position,  of  worldly-mindedness  ?  Has  not  our  deep  adver- 
sity intensified  these  feelings  ?  Has  not  our  keen  poverty 
made  us  still  more  sensitive  than  we  ever  were  ?  There  are 
no  idols  which  God  struck  at,  in  his  late  humiliation  of  us, 
more  openly  than  at  the  qualities  of  the  carnal  heart :  have 
we  learned  the  lesson  ?  Have  we  endeavored  to  overcome 
these  sins  —  for  they  are  sins  in  the  eye  of  God;  or  have 
we  not  rather  thought  it  our  duty  to  cherish  and  cultivate 
them  more  carefully  than  before  ?  I  am  afraid  that  many 
of  us  have  said :  "  Men  may  despoil  us  of  our  property,  of 
our  homes,  of  our  rights,  of  our  privileges  :  but  they  shall 
not  deprive  us  of  our  pride,  or  our  associations,  or  our 
memories.  We  will  make  these  our  idols,  and  will  cherish 
and  worship  these  in  our  inmost  hearts  ! "  Is  not  God  vis- 
iting us  for  these  things  ?  Remember  His  language  of  old 
to  Edom  :  "  Whereas  Edom  saith,  TTe  are  impoverished, 
but  we  will  return  and  build  the  desolate  places ;  thus  saith 
the  Loed  of  hosts,  They  shall  build,  but  I  will  throw  down. 
.  .  .  .  And  your  eyes  shall  see,  and  ye  shall  say,  The  Loed 
will  be  magnified  from  the  border  of  Israel.'3  2 

These  are  the  main  points  in  our  conduct,  for  which, 
perhaps,  God  is  still  laying  His  heavy  hand  upon  us. 
There  are  others  which  time  requires  to  pass  over ;  such  as 
the  inordinate  desire  for  wealth,  which  still  clings  to  us  as 
a  people :  the  keeping  back  from  the  Lord  of  His  offerings 
and  His  tithes  ;  the  permitting  His  houses  to  lie  in  ashes, 
1  Heb.  am.  8.  2  Mai.  i.  4,  5. 


506  On  the  State  Fast-day. 

while  all  other  things  are  being  reconstructed ;  the  seem- 
ing necessity  for  every  thing  save  the  sending  forth  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  All  these  things  are  crying  into 
the  ears  of  the  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth,  and  will  be  heard : 
and  what  you  will  not  give,  shall  be  taken,  —  taken  through 
rains,  and  drought,  and  caterpillar,  and  fire ;  and  every 
purse  shall  have  holes  in  it,  through  which  ill-gotten  or 
ill-hoarded  gains  shall  leak  out.  God  cannot  be  mocked, 
and  will  not  be  mocked !  He  will  have  what  is  His ;  and 
if  not  given  for  His  sake,  it  will  be  taken  for  your  own 
sake. 

And  He  will  not  deal  with  a  Christian  State  as  with  the 
heathen.  "  Like  as  I  pleaded  with  your  fathers  in  the  wil- 
derness of  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  will  I  plead  with  you, 
saith  the  Lord  God.  And  I  will  cause  you  to  pass  under 
the  rod,  and  I  will  bring  you  into  the  bond  of  the  cove- 
nant." 1  For  His  will  and  His  commandments  are  not  hid- 
den from  you,  my  beloved  people,  neither  are  they  far  off. 
His  "  great  commandment "  is,  "  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God, 
to  walk  in  His  ways,  and  to  keep  His  commandments,  and 
His  statutes,  and  His  judgments : " 2  and  "  it  is  not  in 
heaven,  that  thou  shouldest  say,  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to 
heaven,  and  bring  it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  it,  and  do 
it  ?  Neither  is  it  beyond  the  sea,  that  thou  shouldest  say, 
Who  shall  go  over  the  sea  for  us,  and  bring  it  unto  us, 
that  we  may  hear  it,  and  do  it  ?  But  the  word  is  very 
nigh  unto  thee,  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart,  that  thou 
mayest  do  it."  That  is  your  privilege  as  a  Christian  peo- 
ple, —  that  God's  commandments  are  in  your  keeping,  fa- 
miliar to  you  as  household  words ;  and  that  you  have  no 
excuse  of  ignorance,  or  of  darkness.  You  sin  in  the  broad 
light,  when  you  do  sin :  you  sin  in  the  face  of  knowledge, 
of  conscience,  of  the  Church,  of  the  Holy  Spirit:  and 
i  Ezek.  xx.  36,  37.  2  Deut.  xxx.  16. 


On  the  State  Fast-day.  507 

therefore  is  it  that  God  thinks  it  worth  while  to  chasten 
you.  For  chastisement,  and  humiliation,  and  adversity, 
and  trouble,  are  often  God's  most  faithful  servants ;  —  sent 
to  you  in  love  and  mercy,  to  call  you  to  the  marriage  sup- 
per of  the  Lamb.  Continued  prosperity  is  much  more  a 
token  of  God's  displeasure  than  severe  adversity :  for  pros- 
perity, unbroken  and  unchecked,  leads  to  the  accumulation 
of  wealth,  to  luxury,  to  immorality,  to  a  carelessness  of 
virtue  and  religion;  and  at  last,  passing  from  private  to 
public  life,  to  corruption  and  destruction.  It  is  better  to 
be  chastened,  than  to  be  let  alone.  It  is  better  that  your 
land  should  be  smitten  with  blasting  and  mildew;  that 
the  palmer  worm  should  destroy  your  gardens,  and  your 
vineyards,  and  your  fig-trees,  and  your  olive-trees ;  better 
that  the  pestilence  should  come  among  you;  better  that 
your  young  men  should  be  slain  with  the  sword  :  than  that 
you  should  hear  the  awful  words,  "  Ephraim  is  joined  to 
idols  :  let  him  alone." 1  May  we  never,  my  beloved  people, 
hear  that  dread  edict,  either  as  a  state,  or  as  individuals. 
Eather  let  us  pray,  that  we  may  be  always  kept  in  God's 
eye  and  under  God's  discipline,  and  that  He  may  guide  us 
as  a  people  in  the  path  He  desires  us  to  tread.  Humilia- 
tion is  good  for  us  when  it  comes  upon  us  from  God's  wis- 
dom and  God's  rod.  It  is  evil,  only  when  we  bring  it  upon 
ourselves  through  a  fear  of  man,  or  through  our  own  fool- 
ishness, or  through  looking  at  consequences  when  we 
should  be  looking  at  duty.  Fear  God,  and  keep  His  com- 
mandments, and  your  path  will  shine  brighter  and  brighter 
unto  the  perfect  day. 

November  22,  1866. 

1  Hosea  iv.  17. 


tfort^strrt)  pennon. 


Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in 
the  vines ;  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall 
yield  no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there 
shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls :  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will 
joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.  —  Habakkuk  iii.  17,  18. 


WEEK  ago  we  assembled  ourselves  together  in  this 


-  place,  under  the  solemn  bidding  of  our  State  Author- 
ities, to  humble  ourselves  under  the  chastening  hand  of  the 
Almighty,  and  with  supplications  to  implore  His  forgiveness 
and  mercy.  To-day  are  we  met  again  for  prayer,  but  under 
very  different  auspices.  Then  we  were  urged  to  fasting 
and  humiliation,  because  our  fields  had  yielded  no  meat, 
and  our  flock  had  been  cut  off  from  the  fold.  Now  we  are 
called  upon  to  keep  a  holy  day  of  thanksgiving  and  of  praise 
because,  as  a  Nation,  there  has  been  a  plentiful  harvest  and 
an  almost  universal  prosperity.  Then  we  were  summoned 
to  weep  as  a  State  with  those  who  were  weeping ;  now  we 
are  required  to  rejoice,  as  a  Nation,  with  those  who  are  re- 
joicing :  and  both  upon  the  same  principle,  of  obeying 
those  who  have  the  rule  over  us,  and  submitting  ourselves 
"  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake."  1  And 
these  positions  seem,  at  the  first  glance,  very  antagonistic 
to  one  another,  and  very  difficult  to  be  reconciled ;  but 
they  may  be  harmonized,  as  I  trust  I  shall  be  able  to  show 
you,  upon  the  very  highest  Christian  principles.  For  it  is 
a  law  which  pervades  all  the  works  of  God,  of  whatever 


1 1  S.  Peter  ii.  13. 


On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day.  509 

kind,  that  things  which,  under  a  contracted  view,  appear 
at  variance  with  each  other;  under  a  broader  and  more 
comprehensive  one,  are  seen  in  beautiful  harmony,  the  one 
being  the  natural  complement  of  the  other.  Iso  two  things 
are  seemingly  more  opposed  to  each  other,  when  separately 
looked  at,  than  the  dark  storm  cloud  and  the  brilliant  rain- 
bow, —  the  one  the  frowning  type  of  wrath,  the  other  the 
covenanted  symbol  of  promise  :  and  yet  when  the  one  lies 
upon  the  bosom  of  the  other,  bathing  the  last  mutterings 
of  the  receding  tempest  in  its  hues  of  glory,  they  exhibit 
the  perfection  of  heavenly  beauty  and  the  assurance  of 
divine  peace.  The  one  was  darkness,  the  other  was  light : 
together  they  figure  righteousness  and  peace  kissing  each 
other. 

Christ  our  blessed  Saviour  came  into  the  world,  not  only 
to  redeem  us  by  His  blood,  but  to  introduce  into  it  a  prin- 
ciple at  utter  variance  with  the  selfishness  of  human  nature. 
This  principle  He  was  first  to  teach,  as  the  true  spiritual 
meaning  of  the  commandments  given  by  God  to  His  chosen 
people ;  and  then  to  exhibit  in  His  own  Person,  by  His  hu- 
miliation, sufferings,  and  death  for  His  brethren  after  the 
flesh.  The  world  before  His  coming  had  heard  enough  of 
law  and  judgment,  of  sin  and  punishment :  but  nothing  of 
love  and  sympathy ;  save  as  it  came,  in  flashes  through  the 
clouds,  light  out  of  darkness :  the  Patriarchs  and  Proph- 
ets and  Kings  of  the  old  dispensation  giving  the  world 
faint  glimmerings  of  what  they  knew  themselves  only 
through  inspiration.  "  But  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ ;  "  1  —  the  grace  of  divine  mercy,  the  truth  of  God's 
immeasurable  love !  For  "  in  this  was  manifested  the  love 
of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only  begotten 
Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through  him."2 
He  gave  His  most  precious  and  priceless  possession,  not 
iS.Johni.17.  2  1  S.  John  iv.  9. 


5  io       On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day. 

only  to  rescue  fallen  man,  but  to  teach  him,  as  I  said  just 
now,  that  most  divine  of  all  lessons,  the  lesson  of  sympa- 
thy. Before  Christ,  man  was  an  individual,  or  a  part  of  a 
family,  or  perchance  of  a  tribe,  or  even  of  a  Nation :  but 
since  His  coming",  man  has  been  taught  that  he  is  truly 
bound  in  bonds  of  love  and  sympathy  with  the  whole  world. 
As  we  say  in  our  Creed  that  we  believe  in  the  Holy  Catho- 
lic Church,  meaning  the  Universal  Church,  so  did  Christ 
come  to  teach  us  that  we  must  be  catholic  in  our  feelings 
towards  all  men ;  —  must  no  longer  measure  our  relation- 
ship by  the  old  limits  of  blood,  or  interest,  or  earthly  un- 
ion, but  by  the  limits  of  God's  Love  and  Christ's  Sacrifice. 
This  is  the  broader  and  more  comprehensive  view,  which 
corrects  the  narrowness  of  selfishness,  and  which  makes  us, 
while  we  weep  for  ourselves,  still  rejoice  with  the  world 
where  it  rejoices,  even  though  its  joy  may  not  extend  to  us 
in  person  or  in  interest.  The  same  Heavenly  Father  who 
sends  to  us  want  and  sorrow,  sends  to  others  plenty  and 
joy:  and  shall  we  not  sympathize  with  the  dealings  of 
God  ?  The  Prophet  tells  us,  in  my  text,  what  his  feelings 
were,  and  what  his  actions ;  and  he  comes  to  us  as  one  of 
the  accredited  Messengers  of  the  Most  High,  speaking  as 
he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost :  "  Although  the  fig-tree 
shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines  ;  the 
labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield  no 
meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there 
shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls  :  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the 
Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation."  Here  is, 
first,  faith  in  God ;  trust  in  His  wisdom  and  judgments ; 
reliance  upon  His  goodness  and  loving  kindness:  and  then, 
satisfaction  in  what  He  was  doing ;  no  envy  because  He 
was  giving  to  others  and  withholding  from  him ;  no  jealousy 
because  his  neighbors  were  prospering  and  he  was  in  ad- 
versity or  suffering ;  no  murmuring,  because  His  hand  lay 


On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day.       5 1 1 

heavy  upon  him,  wliile  others  were  eating  and  drinking  and 
making  merry.:  but  an  acquiescence  in  the  love  and  mercy 
of  the  God  of  his  salvation.  His  God  had  given  him  the 
assurance  of  that,  at  least.  Whatever  was  in  the  present, 
the  future  was  at  least  safe.  However  he  might  lack  com- 
forts or  even  necessaries  in  this  world,  he  was  assured  that 
"the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink;  but  right- 
eousness, and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  1  And 
this  is  the  first  lesson  of  the  day,  —  to  "  rejoice  in  the 
Lord." 2  The  powers  that  be  have  called  us  to  thanksgiving. 
We  think  that  we  have  but  little  to  give  thanks  for  (God 
knows  how  much  mistaken  we  are  in  that,  as  I  shall  show 
you  presently),  and  that  there  is  no  room  for  rejoicing  in 
earthly  matters.  Be  it  so.  Grant  the  position,  for  the 
present.  Let  us,  then,  "  rejoice  in  the  Lord,"  let  us  "  joy 
in  the  God  of  our  salvation."  It  is  not  much  to  give  one 
day  to  spiritual  joy  —  to  thanksgiving  for  such  a  God  as  we 
have,  the  God  of  our  salvation  ! 

Salvation  !  Oh,  the  joyful  sound, 

Glad  tidings  to  our  ears ; 
A  sovereign  balm  for  every  wound, 

A  cordial  for  our  fears. 

If  we  cannot  rejoice  in  earthly  things,  let  us  rejoice  in 
heavenly  things.  Let  us  leave  Man,  and  his  policies,  and 
his  devices,  and  let  us  climb  up,  on  the  wings  of  faith  and 
love,  and  sing  before  the  Throne  and  Him  that  sitteth  on 
the  Throne  our  song  of  thanksgiving  and  of  praise.  And 
our  song  might  well  take  this  shape:  "We  thank  Thee, 
Father  of  Heaven  and  of  earth,  that  Thou  hast  sent  into 
the  world  Thine  only  begotten  and  well  beloved  Son,  to  die 
for  us  and  our  salvation ;  and  that  Thou  hast,  in  His  Per- 
son, spread  over  us  the  banner  of  love.  We  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  hast  separated  the  Nation  to  which  we  belong 
1  Rom.  xiv.  17.  2  Phil.  iii.  1. 


512        On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day. 

from  those  nations  which  are  lying  in  darkness  and  the 
shadow  of  Death;  that  Thon  hast  placed  us  where  the 
Gospel  is  preached  ;  and  that,  though  Thou  hast  given  us 
the  bread  of  adversity  and  the  water  of  affliction,  Thou 
hast  not  removed  our  teachers  into  a  corner ;  hut  that  our 
ears  still  hear  a  word  behind  us,  saying,  "  This  is  the  way, 
walk  ye  in  it,  when  ye  turn  to  the  right  hand,  and  when  ye 
turn  to  the  left." 1  "  We  praise  Thee,  we  bless  Thee,  we 
worship  Thee,  we  glorify  Thee,  we  give  thanks  to  Thee  for 
Thy  great  glory,  0  Lord  God,  Heavenly  King,  God  the 
Father  Almighty."  And  should  we  not  rejoice  —  whether 
we  think  of  the  living  or  of  the  dead,  of  the  past  or  of  the 
future  —  that  we  can  raise  such  a  note  of  thanksgiving ;  and, 
leaving  the  world  behind  and  all  in  it  that  is  not  agreeable 
to  our  views  or  harmonious  with  our  desires,  can  revel  in 
the  great  truth  that  "  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth  ?  " 
"  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway," 2  is  the  injunction  of  the 
Apostle,  and  comes  to  us  as  a  voice  from  Heaven,  when  we 
think  we  see  nothing  to  rejoice  in  on  earth.  Prophets  like 
Habakkuk  teach  us  the  same  glorious  truth  as  Apostles 
like  S.  Paul ;  and  the  Church  impresses  it  upon  us  when, 
every  Lord's  day,  no  matter  what  may  be  its  livery,  whether 
clothed  in  the  garment  of  praise  or  the  spirit  of  heaviness, 
she  commands  us  to  lift  up  our  voice  and  unitedly  to  sing, 
"  Praise  the  Lord,  0  my  soul ;  and  all  that  is  within  me, 
praise  his  holy  Name." 

This  is  one  lesson  of  our  text :  but  there  is  another  and 
a  harder  lesson  to  learn,  and  that  is,  giving  thanks  for  the 
prosperity  of  others,  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  sympathy. 
To  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  to  joy  in  the  God  of  our  salvation, 
comes  easily  to  a  spiritual  mind ;  it  is  its  daily  food ;  it  is 
the  song  which  swells  up  from  the  heart  while  it  draws 
water  from  the  wells  of  salvation.  But  to  overcome  self- 
i  Isaiah  xxx.  20,  21.  2  Rev.  xix.  6. 


On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day,  513 

ishness  so  far  as  to  rejoice  with  those  who  do  rejoice,  with 
people  whom  we  have  never  known  nor  seen,  who  are 
united  to  us  simply  by  a  bond  of  governmental  onion,  who 
have  heen  lately  in  arms  against  as,  who  have  inflicted 
upon  ns  much  suffering,  who  are  still  keeping  us  under  the 
saw  and  the  harrow :  this  requires  not  only  the  understand- 
ing, hut  the  feeling  of  Christ's  spirit  :  not  only  the  percep- 
tion of  what  He  came  to  teach,  hut  the  assimilation  to 
ourselves  of  the  divine  principle  of  sympathy  which  He 
illustrated  in  His  Sacrifice  and  Death.  And  this  is  the 
mission  of  the  Church  :  to  produce,  in  those  who  name  the 
Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  who  call  Him  Lord  and 
Master,  this  wide-spread  charity  ;  this  love  which  suffereth 
long  and  is  kind  :  which  envieth  not  :  which  beareth  all 
things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all 
things.  The  world  utterly  rejects  it ;  but  the  Church  can- 
not, so  long  as  she  breathes  the  Spirit  of  her  Lord,  and 
holds  Him  up  for  worship  and  imitation.  He  made  no  dis- 
tinctions in  His  love  :  His  sympathy  was  wide  as  the  Uni- 
verse. He  died  for  all,  and  prayed,  even  when  suffering 
cruel  death  at  their  hands,  for  their  forgiveness,  —  the  for- 
giveness of  those  very  ones  who  were  taunting  and  mock- 
ing and  crucifying  Him.  And  think  ye  that  He  did  not 
mean  the  disciple  to  be  as  his  Master  ?  Surely  He  did  : 
for,  in  that  moment  when  He  ceased  giving  His  disciples 
His  own  form  of  prayer  —  our  "  Lord's  prayer  "  —  in  which 
occurs  the  petition.  K  Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  As  we  for- 
give those  who  trespass  against  us,v  He  returns  to  the 
subject,  and  selects  that  one  alone  of  all  the  petitions  to 
comment  upon  and  enforce,  saying,  "  For  if  ye  forgive  men 
their  trespasses,  your  heavenly  Father  will  also  forgive  you : 
but  if  ye  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,  neither  will  your 
Father  forgive  your  trespasses."  1  That  certainly  is  plain 
1  S.  Matt.  vi.  U.  15. 

33 


514       On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day, 

enough ;  and  I  would  ask  you,  Who  has  more  trespasses 
to  forgive  than  your  Heavenly  Father  ?  Who  has  sins  as- 
cending to  Him  day  and  night  more  unceasingly  from  you, 
—  from  each  one  of  you,  from  every  one  of  you,  —  than 
your  Lord  and  Master  ?  While  man  sins  against  you  once, 
you  sin  against  God  a  hundred  times.  While  man  ruffles 
your  temper  or  your  peace  of  mind  now  and  then,  you  are 
exciting  His  indignation,  and  arousing  His  wrath,  unceas- 
ingly ;  and  nothing  but  the  Blood  of  Christ  keeps  that 
wrath  from  bursting  forth  against  you.  You  must  forgive, 
if  you  hope  to  be  forgiven.  There  is  no  alternative  :  and 
if  that  true  spirit  of  charity  is  in  you,  and  with  you,  then 
can  you  keep  your  thanksgiving  and  your  rejoicing,  if  not 
for  yourselves,  at  least  for  your  fellow-creatures.  Christ 
said  to  His  disciples  :  "  Ye  shall  weep  and  lament,  but  the 
world  shall  rejoice ;  " 1  and  therein  was  displayed  the  true 
genuine  status  of  the  Christian.  He  may  be  called  upon 
to  weep  and  lament ;  but  he  must  so  teach  and  so  act  as  to 
make  the  world  rejoice,  and  to  rejoice  with  it  himself, 
through  his  tears.  "  This  is  an  hard  saying ;  who  can  hear 
it  ?  "  2  —  but  it  is  a  true  saying,  and  the  only  one  which 
can  ever  leaven  the  world  with  love  and  peace. 

It  is  only  this  sympathy,  this  Christian  sympathy,  of 
weeping  with  those  who  weep,  and  rejoicing  with  those 
who  rejoice,  which  can  meet  the  difficulties  of  our  position. 
We  are  in  a  very  painful  position.  Our  hearts  are  sore 
with  our  troubles ;  our  cheeks  are  yet  wet  with  the  tears  of 
our  mourning ;  our  brows  are  wrinkled  with  care  and  anx- 
iety ;  our  feelings  are  daily  harassed  with  the  sufferings  of 
those  we  love.  Under  these  circumstances,  we  are  called 
upon  to  give  thanks  and  to  rejoice,  because,  as  a  Nation, 
considering  it  as  a  whole,  there  is  plenty  and  prosperity. 
What  chord  is  there  in  the  human  heart  that  can  vibrate 
1 S.  John  xvi.  20.  2  Ibid.  vi.  60. 


On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day,       5 1 5 

to  sucli  an  appeal  ?  The  chord  of  Christian  sympathy,  and 
none  other :  that  chord  upon  which  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
alone  can  play,  and  bring  forth  music.  God  has  given  us 
the  principle,  in  His  Divine  love.  Christ  has  commanded 
us  to  exercise  it,  and  put  it  in  practice.  The  Holy  Spirit 
comes  down  upon  the  heart,  and  softens  it,  and  bedews  it 
with  its  own  dove-like  sweetness.  And  thus  all  the  Persons 
of  the  adorable  Trinity  are  combining  to  produce  in  us  that 
state  of  feeling  which  belongs  to  the  children  of  God. 
For  "  I  say  unto  you,"  were  the  solemn  words  of  Christ, 
"  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to 
them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully 
use  you,  and  persecute  you ;  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  :  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to 
rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the 
just  and  on  the  unjust.  For  if  ye  love  them  which  love 
you,  what  reward  have  ye  ?  do  not  even  the  publicans  the 
same  ?  And  if  ye  salute  your  brethren  only,  what  do  ye 
more  than  others  ?  do  not  even  the  publicans  so  ?  Be  ye 
therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is 
perfect."  1  A  lofty  standard  :  a  standard  to  which  we  may 
never  attain,  but  nevertheless  the  standard  to  which  we 
should  be  forever  aspiring.  It  will  not  do  to  say  :  "  It  is 
unattainable ;  it  is  beyond  flesh  and  blood ;  it  was  not  meant 
for  us ;  it  is  unnatural !  "  These  propositions  may  all  be 
true  in  themselves;  and  yet  should  have  no  weight  in  a 
Christian  heart,  or  with  a  Christian  spirit.  We  are  making 
no  appeal  to  flesh  and  blood,  —  no  exhortation  to  the  pow- 
ers of  nature.  Our  expectations  of  your  improvement  do 
not  come  from  them.  "  I  can  do  all  things/' 5  said  S.  Paul, 
not  through  flesh  and  blood,  not  through  the  powers  of  na- 
ture, not  through  any  strength  of  his  own,  but  "  through 
Christ  which  strengthened  me."  2  That  is  his  source  of 

1  S.  Matthew  v.  M-48.  2  Phil.  iv.  13. 


5x6       On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day. 

all  Christian  graces,  and  especially  of  this  grace  of  love. 
He  did  not  say,  "  I  cannot  be  charitable ;  I  cannot  be  for- 
giving ;  I  cannot  feel  sympathy  with  so  corrupt  a  mass  of 
humanity  as  the  world,"  and  then  rest  upon  his  lees :  but  he 
turned  to  Christ,  and  strove  in  Him,  faithfully,  earnestly, 
prayerfully,  to  attain  unto  perfection,  —  the  perfection  of 
sympathy;  for  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  whole  law. 

But,  my  beloved  people,  you  are  mistaken  when  you  say 
that  you  have  nothing  for  which  to  be  thankful  in  a  na- 
tional point  of  view.  God  is  not  to  be  looked  at  simply  in 
the  politics  of  a  nation.  He  is  to  be  considered  as  He  rules 
Nature,  as  He  restrains  the  actions  of  men,  as  He  governs 
the  Church,  as  He  puts  the  bit  in  the  mouth  of  the  wicked 
and  turns  them  about  as  it  pleases  Him.  And  surely  we 
can  be  thankful  that,  while  pestilence  has  touched  us,  it 
has  not  raged  in  its  fury ;  that  while  want  is  felt,  it  has  not 
reached  the  confines  of  famine ;  that  while  our  industry 
has  been,  in  a  measure,  blighted,  there  is  still  enough  left 
to  give  us  hope  for  the  future.  Turn  to  the  records  of  pes- 
tilence and  famine  which  are  now  coming  to  us  from  un- 
happy India,1  and  learn  what  we  have  escaped.  We  may 
again  find  cause  of  thanksgiving  in  that  God's  Spirit  has 
soothed  and  calmed  the  spirits  of  many  who  were  once  bit- 
ter against  us  ;  and  that  friends  have  been  raised  up  for  us 
in  high  places,  who  have  stood,  and  are  still  standing,  as  a 
tower  of  strength  between  us  and  those  who  would  inflict 
upon  us  further  evil.  And  then,  surely,  we  who  sit  here 
should  be  unfeignedly  thankful  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
been  poured  out  upon  His  Church,  and  that  we  are  seen 
to-day  once  more  at  unity  over  all  this  broad  land,  ad- 
vancing with  serried  ranks  against  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
"  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an 
army  with  banners  ; "  2  putting  the  world  under  our  feet, 

1  The  Orissa  famine  of  1866.  2  Solomon's  Song  vi.  10. 


On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day.  517 

and  loving  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  more  than  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world.  And  finally,  we  may  rejoice  that  we  are  a 
part  of  a  Christian  Nation ;  and  that  prayer  is  forever  as- 
cending to  God,  from  North  and  South  and  East  and  West, 
that  He  would  guide  us  according  to  His  wisdom,  and  as  it 
seems  best  to  Him ;  and  that  those  prayers  will  be  an- 
swered by  Him  in  His  all- wise  Providence.  There  are  good 
people  everywhere,  who  are  praying,  "  Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth,  as  it  is  in  Heaven  :  "  which  is,  at  last,  leaving  things 
to  His  disposal,  and  placing  them  where  they  will  most 
rightfully  be  ordered.  All  this  is  cause  for  thanks  :  and 
well  may  we  unite  therefore  in  giving  thanks  ! 

Let  us  never,  my  beloved  people,  turn  away  from  giving 
thanks  to  God.  His  blessed  Word  says  :  "  In  every  thing 
give  thanks ;  "  1  in  the  darkness,  as  well  as  in  the  light ; 
when  the  tear  is  trickling  down  the  cheek,  as  well  as  when 
gladness  rules  the  hoar.  We  know  very  little,  in  this 
world,  of  the  ways  of  God.  He  dwelleth  often  in  the  thick 
darkness.  He  plants  His  footsteps  in  the  sea.  We  cannot 
follow  Him  :  we  must  only  trust  in  Him,  and  thank  Him  for 
such  good  as  He  clearly  gives  us.  And  that  good  is  always 
more  than  we  deserve ;  for  it  is  visited  upon  us  in  a  thou- 
sand ways  that  we  do  not  notice.  Every  breath  of  air 
which  fans  our  faces  and  brings  health  upon  its  wings ; 
every  movement  of  our  bodies  which  is  made  without 
pain ;  every  feeling  and  affection  of  the  heart  which  gives 
us  satisfaction  and  joy  ;  every  comfort  of  life  which  is  per- 
mitted us :  comes  from  His  hand.  "  Do  not  err,  my  be- 
loved brethren.  Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift  is 
from  above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights, 
with  whom  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turn- 
ing." 2  We  cannot  pass  God  by,  if  we  have  true  spiritual 
1 1  Thess.  t.  18.  2  S.  James  i.  16,  17. 


5 1 8       On  the  National  Thanksgiving-day. 

sensibility.  He  is  with  us,  and  around  us,  at  every  mo- 
ment of  our  lives,  blessing  us  in  Nature,  in  Society,  in  our 
homes,  and  in  our  hearts.  Therefore,  in  all  things,  let  us 
give  thanks ! 

November  29,  1866. 


tfort^sefcetttl)  Sermon. 


And  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up,  and 
lift  tip  your  heads  ;  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh.  —  S.  Luke 
xxi.  28. 

nnHEIiE  have  been  periods  in  the  history  of  the  Church 


of  Christ  upon  earth  which  have  well  deserved  the 
title  of  Ages  of  Faith,  —  periods  in  which  the  disciples  of 
Christ  have  carried  out  in  their  daily  practice  the  hardest 
sayings  and  the  severest  injunctions  of  their  Master,  — 
when  they  have  verified  the  striking  language  of  S.  Paul, 
that  c<  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities, 
nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature/'  were  able  to 
separate  them  from  the  love  of  God,  which  was  in  Christ 
Jesus  their  Lord.  It  has  been  with  these  giants  in  Faith 
as  it  has  been  with  the  giants  of  science  and  of  literature. 
They  have  come  in  groups,  come  to  meet  great  occasious 
or  great  opportunities,  being  raised  up  and  filled  with  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  spread  the  Church  through  the  blood  of 
martyrdom,  or  to  beat  down  heresy  through  valiant  conflict 
and  patient  suffering  for  the  Truth's  sake,  or  to  make  ut- 
terance before  the  unbelieving  nations  of  the  deep  things 
of  God,  —  those  things  which  the  natural  heart  despises 
and  rejects.  These  have  been  God's  chosen  witnesses,  men 
who  learned  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  to  understand  the 
value  of  the  soul,  and  the  sublime  mystery  of  redemption, 
and  the  awfulness  of  Eternity;  and  to  gauge  all  earthly 
things  at  their  real  price.    The  future  was  their  point  of 


520  Your  Redemption  draweth  nigh. 

observation,  and  not  the  present.  The  coming  of  Christ 
was  their  hope  and  consolation,  not  the  coming  of  any 
thing  worldly.  Heaven  and  its  promised  glories  filled  up 
their  hearts,  and  not  man  and  his  poor  attempts  at  show 
and  happiness.  All  the  events  of  the  world  ;  all  the  cir- 
cumstances which  surrounded  themselves  ;  all  the  signs  in 
nature,  and  all  the  confusion  of  the  civil  state  :  affected 
them  only  as  so  many  portents  which  were  to  be  interpreted 
in  their  relations  to  Christ's  work  upon  earth.  They 
looked  above  man,  ever,  to  the  Finger  of  God.  They 
pierced  through  the  darkness  and  the  clouds  which  ob- 
scured this  lower  world,  and  saw  the  fire  that  was  infold- 
ing itself,  and  the  brightness  that  was  round  about  it :  and 
just  when  the  hearts  of  the  ungodly  and  the  unfaithful 
were  failing  them  for  fear,  they  lifted  up  their  heads  and 
rejoiced  in  the  tokens  which  announced  the  presence  and 
the  dealings  of  God.  It  was  only  when  the  world  was 
left  to  itself,  that  they  trembled.  It  was  only  when  God 
seemed  to  be  hiding  Himself  and  giving  up  the  nations  to 
their  own  ways,  that  they  were  afraid. 

These  Ages  of  Faith,  as  I  said  just  now,  lie  scattered  all 
along  the  Church's  path  of  life ;  and  it  was  while  creating 
the  greatest  of  them  that  our  Saviour  uttered  the  words 
which  I  have  selected  for  my  text.  His  disciples  were  yet 
immature  Christians  ;  had  most  of  them  but  lately  entered 
the  school  of  Faith ;  had  none  of  them  as  yet  received  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  were  more  or  less  tinctured 
with  the  national  error  of  supposing  Him,  their  Messiah, 
to  be  coming  soon  to  set  up  the  reign  of  righteousness 
and  of  peace  upon  earth.  They  had  no  conception,  in  that . 
early  period  of  Christ's  manifestation,  of  the  long  ages 
through  which  His  Church  was  to  be  militant ;  of  the  many 
kingdoms  which  must  rise  and  fall  ere  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  should  come ;  of  the  strife  and  warfare  and  persecu- 


Your  Redemption  draweth  nigh,  521 

tion  and  confusion  which  must  reign  over  the  world,  ere 
their  redemption  should  be  accomplished.  All  this  they 
had  to  learn  :  for  if  they  knew  it  not,  their  faith  might  be 
shaken,  and  their  love  wax  cold.  And  while  schooling 
these  early  fruits  of  His  divine  Ministry.  He  has  instructed 
us  through  them  ;  and  caused  the  lesson,  which  their  ne- 
cessities required,  to  reach  even  to  us,  and  to  comfort  us  in 
the  midst  of  the  chauges  and  calamities  which  are  forever 
disturbing  the  Church  and  the  world. 

It  is  the  manner  of  the  Scripture  to  convey  its  comfort 
or  its  warnings  through  words  that  have  a  double  applica- 
tion, first  to  the  times  in  which  they  were  uttered,  and 
then  to  any  events  in  the  future  which  might  correspond 
with  those  in  circumstance  and  import.  And  it  is  tnis 
method  of  teaching  which  makes  the  Bible  a  book  for  all 
times,  an  expanding  voice, — if  I  may  use  the  expression, 
—  speaking  to  men  of  every  age  and  suiting  itself  to  the 
necessities  of  every  period.  What  was  comfort  to  the  early 
Christians,  becomes  comfort  for  us.  What  was  explanation 
to  them,  is  explanation  for  us.  And  expressions  which  had 
reference  in  their  delivery  only  to  matters  that  were  local 
or  temporary,  become,  through  this  presence  of  an  inspir- 
ing Spirit,  applicable  to  events  of  a  more  general  and  ex- 
alted nature,  reaching  from  earth  to  Heaven,  and  embrac- 
ing within  their  grand  development  events  as  remote  as  the 
ending  of  the  whole  Christian  economy. 

Our  text  is  a  passage  from  one  of  these  remarkable  dis- 
courses, —  partly  a  word  of  coinfort,  and  partly  a  word  of 
prophecy.  It  was  spoken  by  our  Lord  when  preparing  His 
disciples  for  the  wonders  and  tribulations  which  should  ac- 
company the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  :  and  it  hurries  on, 
in  the  fullness  of  its  comprehensiveness  (for  with  the  Lord 
a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day)  until  it  includes  in  its 
warnings  and  exhortations  all  Christians,  even  to  the  mo- 


522  Your  Redemption  draweth  nigh. 

ment  when  He  Himself  shall  come  a  second  time  in  the 
clouds  of  Heaven  to  judge  the  world.  And  His  lesson  to 
both  them  and  us  is,  that  Christians  have  nothing  to  fear 
even  in  the  worst  times  ;  nay,  that  their  moment  of  exulta- 
tion and  of  glory  shall  he  when  others  are  trembling  with 
fear,  —  when  there  is  "  distress  of  nations  with  perplex- 
ity." 

If  we  examine  our  text  in  connection  with  the  whole  dis- 
course of  our  Saviour,  it  will  sound  strangely  in  the  ears 
of  unbelief,  and  even  in  the  ears  of  many  who  profess  to  be 
the  followers  of  our  Lord.  These  last  will  find  it  almost 
as  hard  a  saying  as  those  who  disbelieve  the  Gospel,  and 
will  confess  that  they  have  not  reached  up  to  that  height  of 
faith  which  will  make  them  exult  amid  such  scenes  of  awful 
terror.  For  Christ  bids  them,  "  when  these  things  begin 
to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up  and  lift  up  your  heads." 
What  things  ?  The  world  at  peace  around  them,  persecu- 
tion having  ceased,  and  humiliation  and  shame  having 
taken  their  flight  ?  What  things  ?  Christianity  victorious, 
and  seated  in  the  pride  of  power  ?  What  things  ?  Their 
Lord,  the  conquering  hero  they  had  expected,  beginning  to 
reign  upon  Earth  ?  None  of  these  :  for  looking  up  and 
lifting  up  their  heads  at  such  things  would  not  have  con- 
stituted them  a  peculiar  people,  nor  made  them  giants  in 
faith.  But  they  were  commanded  to  look  up  and  lift  up 
their  heads,  just  when  every  one  else  was  trembling  with 
fear,  and  calling  upon  the  rocks  and  the  mountains  to  fall 
upon  them  and  hide  them  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb: 
"  And  there  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon, 
and  in  the  stars  ;  and  upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations, 
with  perplexity ;  the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring ;  men's 
hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after  those 
things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth  :  for  the  powers  of 
heaven  shall  be  shaken.    And  then  shall  they  see  the  Son 


Your  Redemption  draweth  nigh.  523 

of  man  coining  in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great  glory. 
And  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look 
up,  and  lift  up  your  heads ;  for  your  redemption  draweth 
nigh."  What  a  religion,  that  can  give  comfort  amid  such 
convulsions  of  nature  and  such  lamentations  of  man ! 
What  Faith,  that  can  make  a  human  creature  face  such 
omens  of  destruction,  and  exult  amid  the  wreck  of  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  ! 

And  yet  if  we  really  only  were  what  we  profess  to  be, 
believers  in  Christ  and  in  His  work,  why  should  we  be 
moved  at  any  thing,  save  the  victory  of  Satan  ?  If  he 
could  once  again  turn  back  the  tide  of  battle  which  Christ 
rolled  upon  him  when  He  came  from  Bozrah  in  garments 
dyed  with  blood,  travel-ling  in  the  greatness  of  His  strength, 
a  Christian  might  be  shaken  to  the  depth  of  his  soul :  but 
nothing  else  can  harm  him !  All  things  else  are  but  links 
in  that  chain  of  events  which  stretches  from  the  Cross  of 
Christ  to  His  second  coming  in  glory ;  —  are  but  onward 
movements  in  that  redemption  of  our  race  which,  beginning 
in  the  love  of  God,  shall  end  in  the  exulting*  triumph  of 
Christ,  when  death  and  hell  shall  be  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire.  What  are  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in 
the  stars,  to  a  Christian  when  his  Lord  has  told  him  that 
they  are  hung  out  in  the  heavens  as  tokens  of  His  love  to 
him,  of  His  divine  work  in  his  behalf?  They  are  like  the 
signal-fires  which  were  flashed  in  ancient  days  from  tower 
to  tower,  and  from  mountain  to  mountain,  heralding  on 
wings  of  light  the  advent  of  some  mighty  conqueror,  car- 
rying joy  to  the  hearts  of  all  his  faithful  followers,  and 
striking  terror  only  into  those  who  had  proved  traitors 
to  his  cause.  It  is  but  right  that  the  morning  stars, 
which  sang  together  when  the  Almighty  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  the  Earth  and  planted  its  everlasting  foundations, 
should  once  more  signal  forth  their  joy  at  its  re-creation 


524  Your  Redemption  draweth  nigh, 

in  righteousness.  It  is  but  fitting  that  the  sun,  which  was 
shrouded  in  darkness  when  the  Son  of  Man  was  crucified, 
should  blaze  with  redoubled  glory  when  He  comes  in  the 
Majesty  of  His  Godhead.  And  what,  to  the  Christian,  is 
"  distress  of  nations  with  perplexity ;  "  is  "  men's  hearts 
failing  them  for  fear  :  "  when  he  remembers  that  those  na- 
tions have  been  the  stern  opponents  of  Christ's  Kingdom ; 
those  men,  the  scoffers  who  have  said  unto  God  in  the  pride 
of  their  hearts,  "  Depart  from  us ;  for  we  desire  not  the 
knowledge  of  thy  ways  ? "  Is  not  their  humiliation  his 
glory  ?  Is  not  their  terror  —  the  only  time,  perchance, 
that  they  have  truly  feared  God  —  his  hope !  What  has  he 
been  struggling  for,  all  his  days  ?  Upon  what  have  his  fee- 
ble yet  earnest  efforts  been  concentrated  ?  The  consumma- 
tion of  the  work  of  the  Lord,  —  the  in-bringing  of  that 
glorious  Conqueror,  when  every  eye  shall  see  Him,  and 
every  knee  shall  bow  before  Him,  and  the  shout  of  glory 
shall  ascend,  of  blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power, 
unto  Him  who  hath  redeemed  us  out  of  every  nation  and 
kindred  and  people,  and  hath  made  us  to  be  kings  and 
priests  unto  God !  And  shall  he  be  afraid  of  the  accom- 
paniments of  this  his  crowning  desire  and  prayer? 
Strangely  inconsistent  should  he  be,  to  tremble  when  he 
should  look  up  with  joy  and  hope,  —  to  be  of  a  fearful 
heart  when  his  Lord  has  commanded  him  to  lift  up  his  eyes 
and  see  the  glory  of  His  Cross  ! 

It  may  seem  strange  that  the  reason  given  in  my  text 
for  the  exultation  of  Christ's  followers  in  that  day  should 
be  "  because  their  redemption  draweth  nigh."  And  those 
who  have  not  well  considered  the  economy  of  Grace  may 
ask  :  "  Was  not  our  redemption  procured  when  our  Saviour 
died  upon  the  Cross  and  rose  again  for  our  justification  ? 
Have  not  all  those  who  have  died  in  faith  gone  to  the  land 
of  peace  and  of  rest  ?    Are  not  we,  who  still  live,  rejoicing 


Your  Redemption  draweth  nigh.  525 

in  the  hope  of  our  deliverance  from  sin  and  death  and 
hell  ?  "  I  would  not,  my  beloved  hearers,  mar  a  single  joy, 
or  blight  a  single  hope,  in  your  Christian  life ;  but  I  must 
nevertheless  tell  you  that  your  redemption,  and  the  re- 
demption of  those  who  have  gone  before  you,  will  not  be 
consummate  until  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord.  "  For 
we  know,"  says  the  Apostle  S.  Paul  to  the  Romans,  "  that 
the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together 
until  now.  Aud  not  only  they,  but  ourselves  also,  which 
have  the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan 
within  ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  re- 
demption of  our  body."  1  '  T  is  true  that  we  can  never 
again,  save  by  our  own  consent,  be  made  the  servants  of 
sin  and  the  captives  of  Satan :  for  Christ  has  conquered 
through  His  blood.  '  T  is  true  that  all  who  have  died  in 
faith  are  living  in  an  assured  hope  of  everlasting  glory. 
'  T  is  true  that  we  can  raise  the  cry  of  victory  even  here 
upon  earth,  and  ask,  "  Who  is  he  that  coudemneth  ?  It  is 
Christ  that  died,  yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again,  who  is 
even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  interces- 
sion for  us."  'T  is  true  that  we  can  face  our  fiercest  ene- 
mies, and  triumphantly  challenge  death  and  the  grave. 
But  nevertheless,  "  the  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed 
is  death,"  and  he  holds  and  will  hold  all  bodies  in  his  grasp, 
until  the  trump  of  the  archangel  and  the  voice  of  God 
shall  summon  all  the  bodies  of  all  the  dead  from  earth  and 
sea,  and  the  faithful  shall  be  caught  up  to  meet  their  Lord 
in  glory.  This  will  be  our  redemption.  This  was  the  re- 
demption which  drew  nigh,  when  these  signs  in  sun  and 
moon  and  stars,  and  this  distress  of  nations,  burst  upon 
the  watching  eyes  of  Faith.  We  must  not  mingle  con- 
fusedly the  steps  of  our  redemption.  We  must  watch  upon 
the  Lord,  and  rejoice  that  He  is  bringing  us  nearer  every 

1  Rom.  yiii.  22. 


526  Your  Redemption  draweth  nigh, 

day  to  the  period  when  He  shall  set  His  Son  upon  His  holy- 
hill  of  Zion. 

And  this  is  the  comfort  which  is  offered  to  us,  my  fellow- 
Christians,  when  we  see  signs  in  the  heavens  and  signs  in 
the  earth,  when  distress  of  nations  with  perplexity  is  visi- 
ble in  the  world,  when  men's  hearts  are  failing  them  for 
fear.  They  are  tokens  that  God's  work  is  speeding  to  its 
consummation,  that  the  curtain  is  rolling  up  which  is  to 
introduce  another  act  in  the  drama  of  the  world's  spir- 
itual history.  Keligion,  Christianity,  are  too  much  wrapped 
up  in  all  the  questions  now  agitating  the  world,  to  he  left 
out  of  our  calculations  in  weighing  events  and  anticipating 
consequences.  And  although  I  am  not  silly  enough  to 
suppose  that  such  events  are  indicative  of  the  immediate 
coming  of  our  Lord  to  His  final  Judgment,  still  they  are 
enough  to  render  Christians  thoughtful  and  watchful ;  and 
to  comfort  them,  when  trouble  may  come  upon  them  in  the 
future,  with  the  belief  that  their  redemption  draweth  nigh. 

I  trust,  my  beloved  people,  that  there  are  many  of  you 
who  are  longing  for  that  redemption,  —  who,  weary  of  sin 
and  sorrow,  are  looking,  with  anxious  hearts,  for  their  rest. 
How  mournful  it  is  to  see  immortal  creatures  weaving  for- 
ever new  webs  of  hope,  and  fastening  them  to  objects 
which  are  actually  crumbling  while  they  rest  upon  them. 
What  is  this  world,  with  all  its  noise  and  tumult,  with  all 
its  seeming  importance  and  majesty,  but  a  stage  upon 
which  God  is  moving  its  actors  to  and  fro  according  to  the 
purpose  of  His  will,  and  dismissing  them  at  His  pleasure 
when  their  parts  have  been  played  out  ?  And  yet  most  of 
them  think  only  of  themselves,  and  forget  Him  who  is  over- 
ruling every  thing,  and  who  has  said :  "  I  will  overturn, 
overturn,  overturn,  until  He  cometh  whose  right  it  is." 
But  there  are  some,  I  know,  who  see  and  acknowledge  an 
overruling  Providence ;  who  can  perceive  an  order  in  the 


Your  Redemption  drawetk  nigh.  527 

midst  of  apparent  confusion ;  who  can  trace  a  divine  plan 
through  all  the  complications  of  human  affairs.  To  such 
there  can  be  no  fear.  In  the  hearts  of  these  children  of 
God  there  can  he  no  distress.  They  can  see  God  in  the 
whirlwind^  and  in  the  storm  ;  and  they  can  trust  to  Him 
who  is  forever  working  to  bring  in  their  redemption. 
Man  is  looking  only  at  man.  God  is  looking  at  sin.  and 
death,  and  hell,  and  him  who  has  the  power  of  death.  Man 
is  contending  for  power,  for  territory,  for  right-,  for  lib- 
erty :  God  is  overrulino'  all  that,  to  g'ive  His  Son  dominion 
over  all,  and  to  bring  in  that  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath 
made  us  free.  THien  the  nations  are  distressed  and  per- 
plexed, when  men's  hearts  are  failing  them  for  fear,  when 
the  sea  and  the  waves  are  roaring :  then  may  God's  children 
look  up  and  lift  up  their  heads,  for  they  may  rest  assured 
that  their  redemption  draweth  nigh,  —  that  their  salvation 
is  nearer  than  when  they  believed. 


iffortv  ctglKI)  pennon* 


In  thy  light  shall  we  see  light.  —  Psalm  xxxvi.  9. 
[HE  peculiar  and  unceasing  boast  of  the  present  time  is, 


that  it  is  an  age  of  light.  All  our  public  declaimers, 
whether  they  take  for  their  platform  the  rostrum,  the 
lecture-room,  the  legislative  hall,  or  the  pulpit,  invariably 
strike  the  same  key-note,  and  congratulate  their  audiences 
upon  the  wonderful  advancement  of  the  world  in  knowl- 
edge, in  intelligence,  and  in  right  reason.  It  is  a  thing 
taken  for  granted ;  about  which  there  can  be  no  dispute ; 
which  needs  only  to  be  enunciated,  to  be  assented  to  :  and 
if  any  question  should  arise  upon  the  subject,  that  question 
would  have  no  reference  to  the  matter  of  fact,  but  only  to 
some  special  difference  about  the  kind  of  light  which  has 
streamed  in  most  plenteously,  or  has  weighed  most  in  the 
scale  of  interest  or  importance.  In  proof  of  its  great  im- 
provement in  knowledge,  one  is  pointed  to  the  modern  dis- 
coveries in  physical  science ;  to  the  marvellous  achieve- 
ments wrought  through  the  application  of  steam;  to  the 
yet  more  wonderful  applications  of  electro-magnetism ;  to 
the  labor-saving  machines  which  are  reducing  man  to  a 
mere  regulator ;  to  the  exquisite  beauty  and  finish  of  the 
arts ;  but  above  all  to  the  universal  comfort  which  has  spread 
itself  through  society.  In  order  to  demonstrate  this  ad- 
vancement in  intelligence,  its  school-systems,  its  lyceums, 
its  lecture  rooms,  its  teeming  press,  its  ever  increasing 
libraries,  its  general  diffusion  among  the  masses  of  truths 
and  secrets  and  privileges  which  used  to  be  confined  exclu- 


Christ  our  Light.  529 

sively  and  mysteriously  to  the  favored  few,  are  triumphantly 
advanced  as  incontrovertible  evidence.  The  growth  of 
right  reason  is  marked,  in  the  public  estimation,  by  the 
superiority  of  its  arrangements  in  Government ;  by  its  in- 
ventions in  Religion ;  by  its  assertion  of  rights  which  have 
been  long  kept  under  the  foot  of  political  or  ecclesiastical 
or  domestic  tyranny ;  by  its  universal  outcry  against  every 
thing  old  and  established.  To  controvert  these  pretensions, 
is  to  place  yourself  out  of  the  pale  of  acknowledged  truth, 
and  to  be  assuming  a  position  contrary  to  the  conclusions 
of  the  advancing  world  and  the  glorious  spirit  of  the  age. 
To  deny  that  all  this  stuff  is  light,  seems,  to  the  rushing 
world,  like  the  denial  of  a  first  truth ;  like  the  contradic- 
tion of  something  obvious  to  the  very  senses  of  mankind. 
And  so  the  world  dashes  on,  flattering  itself  with  its  pro- 
gression, exulting  in  the  brightness  which  encircles  its 
onward  career,  and  promising  itself  an  approaching  per- 
fectibility which  is  to  fulfill  the  predictions  of  Poets, 
Philosophers,  and  Statesmen. 

How  startling,  or  else  how  ridiculous,  it  must  sound  to 
such  a  world,  to  be  told  that  it  is  lying  in  darkness ;  that 
so  far  as  all  true  light  is  concerned,  these  references  and 
illustrations  are  of  no  account,  because  they  do  not  touch 
the  question  which  is  of  most  interest  to  an  immortal 
creature,  the  question  of  moral  and  religious  advancement. 
That  there  is  a  vast  and  daily  progression  in  physical  knowl- 
edge ;  that  there  is  an  unceasing  application  of  the  princi- 
ples of  science  to  the  comfort  of  life ;  that  there  is  a  vast 
multiplication  of  the  apparatus  of  literature  and  of  the 
means  of  intelligence  ;  that  the  intellect  is  active  and  busy 
beyond  all  precedent ;  I  will  not  deny :  but  no  more  can  I 
admit  that  these  things  necessarily  increase  man's  knowl- 
edge of  God,  and  of  that  true  Light  of  which  He  is  the 
Fountain  and  eternal  Parent.    "  That  which  hath  been  is 

31 


530  Christ  our  Light. 

now ;  and  that  which  is  to  be  hath  already  been,"  1  saith  the 
wise  man.  And,  while  the  investigations  of  modern  travel- 
lers and  antiquarians  are  satisfying  us  that  we  know  very 
little  of  luxury  which  the  ancients  knew  not,  and  possess 
very  little  of  the  security  of  life  and  property  which  they 
possessed  not,  and  are  very  little  advanced  beyond  them  (if 
we  be  advanced  at  all)  in  literature  and  the  arts,  while  yet 
they  lay  imbruted  in  foul  idolatry  and  in  the  blackness  of 
darkness  upon  religious  topics  :  I  cannot  acknowledge  that 
the  improvement  in  our  day,  in  these  respects,  necessarily 
involves  a  like  improvement  in  matters  relating  to  the  heart 
and  to  the  spirit.  The  Christian,  and  above  all  the  Chris- 
tian Minister,  cannot  be  too  cautious  about  confounding 
progress  in  physical  science  and  in  social  life,  with  progress 
in  morals  and  religion.  They  do  not  always  go  together  ; 
and  illustrations  innumerable,  did  time  permit  their  intro- 
duction, might  be  furnished  from  the  events  of  the  current 
time,  to  satisfy  any  reasonable  man  of  this  truth.  The 
statistics  of  crime  have  established  the  fact  beyond  all  con- 
troversy, that  a  diffusion  of  education,  as  it  is  called, — 
where  that  education  was  merely  intellectual,  in  which 
there  was  not  a  decided  admixture  of  religious  instruction, 
—  had  invariably  produced  an  increase  of  villainy  and  cor- 
ruption. And  with  reason ;  for  man's  nature  being  strongly 
inclined  to  evil,  mere  intellectual  culture  only  sharpens  cor- 
rupt faculties,  and  furnishes  them  with  means  and  appli- 
ances of  wickedness.  And  these  statistical  results,  brought 
out  by  individuals  having  no  alliance  with  religion,  coincide 
strictly  with  the  a  priori  reasonings  of  true  philosophy ;  and 
are  just  such  as  a  Christian  would  have  anticipated,  with 
no  other  basis  for  his  foresight  than  the  simple  truth  of 
man's  fall  and  consequent  corruption,  as  revealed  by  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  No,  my  hearers,  the  world  may  reach,  and 
1  Ecclesiastes  iii.  15. 


Christ  our  Light,  531 

probably  will  reach,  a  yet  higher  position  in  physical  power 
and  physical  comfort ;  will  attain  still  loftier  flights  in  in- 
tellectual eminence ;  will  improve  still  more  in  social  organ- 
ization :  while  yet  it  shall  fulfill  what  S.  Paul  said  of  the 
Romans  in  their  Augustan  age  of  luxury  and  literature : 
"  Because  that  when  they  knew  God,  they  glorified  him  not 
as  God,  neither  were  thankful ;  but  became  vain  in  their 
imaginations,  and  their  foolish  heart  was  darkened.  Pro- 
fessing themselves  to  be  wise,  they  became  fools,  and 
changed  the  glory  of  the  uncorruptible  God  into  an  image 
made  like  to  corruptible  man,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed 
beasts,  and  creeping  things 1  or  what  the  same  Apostle 
said,  with  equal  truth,  of  the  refined  Ephesians  :  "  having 
no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world."  2  All  these  mani- 
festations of  physical  and  intellectual  progression  do  not 
in  the  least  degree  forbid  my  saying  that  the  world,  even 
in  its  active  and  progressive  advancement  physically  and 
intellectually,  is  lying  in  darkness. 

But  you  may  ask  :  "  How  can  such  a  position  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  fact  of  a  Christian  Revelation,  with  the 
apparatus  of  Religion  staring  us  in  the  face  at  every  turn  ? 
How  can  the  world  be  lying  in  darkness,  when  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  has  arisen  upon  it  with  healing  in  His 
wings ;  —  when  He  who  called  Himself  £  The  Light  of  the 
world,'  has  scattered  the  beams  of  truth  over  the  groaning 
and  travailing  creation  ?  "  Ah  !  my  hearers,  as  well  might 
you  ask  how  the  inmates  of  an  asylum  for  the  blind  can  be 
said  to  be  lying  in  darkness,  when  the  sun  of  Nature  has 
arisen  with  brightness  in  his  train,  and  has  diffused  the 
glory  of  his  effulgence  over  earth  and  air  and  ocean.  What 
is  all  the  radiance  of  the  heavens,  —  what  the  rainbow  hues 
which  are  painted  with  the  pencil  of  the  Almighty  in  rich 
luxuriance  upon  the  outspread  creation,  —  to  beings  defec- 
1  Eom.  i.  21-23.  2  Eph.  ii.  12. 


532  Christ  our  Light. 

tive  and  deprived  of  the  organ  of  perception  ?  Light  is  all 
around  them,  and  beings  like  themselves  are  rejoicing  in 
that  light :  but  to  them,  it  is  as  though  it  were  not.  They 
hear  of  it  with  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  and  perchance  give 
it  the  credence  of  the  understanding  :  but  they  can  form 
no  conception  of  it.  And  as  it  is  with  them,  so  is  it,  I 
grieve  to  say,  with  by  far  the  larger  proportion  of  those 
who  are  living  in  the  Light  of  the  Gospel,  and  under  the 
very  shadow  of  Christian  institutions.  The  glorious  Light 
of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  irradiating  the  world ;  is 
blessing  with  its  preciousness  the  children  of  God ;  is  cloth- 
ing with  the  anticipated  robes  of  heavenly  glory  those  who 
have  been  washed  in  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb:  while,  to 
these  blinded  multitudes,  —  blinded  by  the  God  of  this 
world,  —  there  is  neither  Light,  nor  preciousness,  nor  beauty 
in  the  revelation  of  the  Almighty.  "  Eyes  have  they,  but 
they  see  not." 1 

It  is  in  this  sense,  my  beloved  hearers,  that  I  am  bound 
to  preach  the  broad  distinction  which  there  is  between  that 
wisdom  which  is  earthly  and  sensual,  and  that  wisdom 
which  cometh  from  above ;  between  a  world  pressing  for- 
ward in  the  race  of  physical  advancement,  and  that  same 
world  lying  in  religious  darkness  :  and  to  labor  to  impress 
upon  you  the  truth  of  our  text,  addressed  by  the  Psalmist 
to  the  Lord  God  of  Israel :  "In  thy  light  shall  we  see 
light."  This  distinction  is  beautifully  drawn  in  the  twenty- 
eighth  chapter  of  Job,  where  this  very  train  of  thought 
seems  to  have  been  passing  nearly  four  thousand  years  ago 
through  the  mind  of  the  man  of  Uz :  "  Surely,"  writes  he, 
"  there  is  a  vein  for  the  silver,  and  a  place  for  gold  where 
they  fine  it.  Iron  is  taken  out  of  the  earth,  and  brass  is 
molten  out  of  the  stone.  ...  As  for  the  earth,  out  of  it 
cometh  bread :  and  under  it  is  turned  up  as  it  were  fire. 
1  Psalm  cxxxv.  16. 


Christ  our  Light  533 

The  stones  of  it  are  the  place  of  sapphires,  and  it  hath  dust 
of  gold." 1  This,  you  perceive,  is  a  knowledge  of  nat- 
ural things ;  is  the  development  of  physical  science  as 
known  in  his  time  :  but  the  inspiration  which  lighted  upon 
him  would  not  permit  him  to  stop  there,  —  to  confound 
this  with  true  wisdom  and  religious  light.  "  But  where," 
goes  he  on  to  ask,  "  shall  wisdom  be  found  ?  and  where  is 
the  place  of  understanding?  Man  knoweth  not  the  price 
thereof ;  neither  is  it  found  in  the  land  of  the  living.  The 
depth  saith,  It  is  not  in  me  :  and  the  sea  saith,  It  is  not 
with  me.  It  cannot  be  gotten  for  gold,  neither  shall  silver 
be  weighed  for  the  price  thereof.  .  .  .  Whence  then  Com- 
eth wisdom  ?  and  where  is  the  place  of  understanding  ? 
Seeing  it  is  hid  from  the  eyes  of  all  living,  and  kept  close 
from  the  fowls  of  the  air.  Destruction  and  death  say, 
We  have  heard  the  fame  thereof  with  our  ears.  God  un- 
derstandeth  the  way  thereof,  and  he  knoweth  the  place 
thereof.  .  .  .  And  unto  man  he  said,  Behold,  the  fear  of 
the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom ;  and  to  depart  from  evil  is  un- 
derstanding." 2  He  knew  well  that  natural  knowledge  was 
one  thing,  and  that  religious  knowledge  was  quite  another 
thing ;  and  his  rich  and  magnificent  summary  concluded  at 
the  same  point  with  that  of  David  in  our  text :  "The  fear 
of  the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom."  "  In  thy  light  shall  we  see 
light." 

Supposing  now,  for  a  moment,  that  I  have  persuaded  you 
to  receive  this  distinction,  and  to  acknowledge  that  there 
is  a  wide  difference  between  the  onward  march  of  the 
world  in  intelligence  and  knowledge,  and  the  progress  of 
that  same  world  in  religious  light :  it  will  still  seem  incred- 
ible to  you,  that  you  can  be  living  in  the  midst  of  such  a 
system  as  Christianity,  supporting  its  institutions,  partak- 
ing of  its  blessings,  and  yet  not  be  a  recipient  in  any 

1  Verses  1,  2,  5,  6.  2  job  XXviii.  12-15,  20-23,  28. 


534  Christ  our  Light. 

degree  of  the  Light  which  is  its  distinctive  glory.  "  I 
believe,"  you  may  say,  "  upon  evidence,  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  its  divinity ;  I  have  been  instructed 
in  its  truths  from  childhood ;  I  read  my  Bible,  and  admire 
its  moral  teachings  and  its  profound  wisdom ;  I  practise, 
as  fairly  as  I  can,  the  duties  which  it  inculcates  :  and  am  I 
to  be  told  that  I  am  lying  in  darkness,  and  have  no  relig- 
ious light  ?  "  You  may  have  more  my  hearer,  than  I  am 
aware  of.  I  stand  not  here  to  judge  you  :  I  rather  desire 
that  you  should  judge  yourself.  In  answer  to  your  indig- 
nant question  I  have  only  to  say,  as  one  who  desires  you  to 
be  a  partaker  of  that  Divine  Light,  that  you  may  have  pro- 
ceeded quite  as  far  as  you  represent  yourself  to  have  done, 
and  yet  be  in  darkness  about  all  that  relates  to  spiritual 
things.  For,  as  to  your  believing  in  the  Revelation  of  God 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  S.  James  tells  us  that  "  the  devils  also 
believe,  and  tremble."  1  And  as  to  the  reading  of  your 
Bible,  there  were  those  in  the  Apostles'  days  who  read 
them,  and  yet  wrested  them  to  their  own  destruction.2 
And  as  to  your  performance  of  the  moral  duties  of  the 
Bible,  you  can  read  there  of  a  young  man  who  was  so  good 
that  when  our  Saviour  saw  him  He  loved  him ;  who  could 
answer  to  a  very  strict  catechism  upon  these  points :  and 
yet  to  whom  He  was  compelled  to  say,  "  One  thing  thou 
lackest."  3  And  as  to  your  baptism  and  youthful  instruc- 
tion in  these  things,  we  have  S.  Peter  saying  to  Simon 
Magus,  whom  Philip  had  baptized  upon  a  profession  of 
faith,  and  who  had  seen  the  wonderful  works  of  the  Lord  : 
"Thy  heart  is  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God.  .  .  .  For 
I  perceive  that  thou  art  in  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  in 
the  bond  of  iniquity."  4  A  remembrance  of  these  Scriptur- 
al examples  forces  me  to  say,  that  you  may  have  proceeded 

1  S.  James  ii.  19.  2  2  S.  Pet.  iii.  16. 

3  S.  Mark  x.  21.  *  Acts  viii.  21,  23. 


Christ  our  Light.  535 

all  this  length,  and  jet  may  not  be  in  the  Light.  But 
mark  !  I  say  "  may  not  be  ;  "  —  I  say  that  it  does  not  fol- 
low as  a  matter  of  course,  that  such  religious  exercises  as 
you  plead  must  necessarily  determine  that  you  are  in  the 
Light.  That  must  depend  upon  other  tests  drawn  from  the 
Bible  itself,  which  must  at  last  settle  ail  the  questions 
relating  to  our  spiritual  life. 

The  Bible  proceeds  throughout  upon  the  position  that 
the  Godhead  has  been  revealed  to  man  only  in  and  through 
Jesus  Christ.  "  Xo  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time,"  saith 
S.  John ;  "  the  only-begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him."1  And  S.  Paul 
speaks  of  Him  as  "  dwelling  in  the  light  which  no  man  can 
approach  unto ;  whom  no  man  hath  seen,  nor  can  see."  2 
So  that  when  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  proclaimed  Himself  as 
the  "  Light  of  the  world,"  He  developed  the  true  meaning 
of  the  Psalmist :  "  In  thy  Light  shall  we  see  light."  Just 
as  in  Nature,  we  see  not  light  by  looking  into  the  dazzling 
brightness  of  the  orb  of  day,  but  rather  gather  darkness  : 
so  is  it  ordered  that  we  shall  not  drink  in  religious  light 
directly  from  the  glorious  Fountain  of  Light  before  whom 
Cherubim  and  Seraphim  veil  their  faces,  lest  we  be  over- 
powered by  its  effulgence  and  perish  :  "  for  there  shall  no 
man,"  saith  Jehovah,  "  see  me,  and  live."  3  But  when  that 
light  of  Nature  is  reflected  front  the  myriad  points  on 
which  its  rays  impinge,  and  comes  to  us  a  liquid  molten 
flood  of  glory,  mellowed  and  softened  to  our  senses,  how 
perfectly  in  that  light  do  we  see  light!  What,  in  itself, 
when  we  dared  to  raise  to  it  our  presumptuous  eye,  was  too 
dazzling  for  our  weakness,  is  now,  in  its  diffusion,  mild, 
beneficent,  beautiful,  precious  above  all  price.  What,  in 
itself,  destroyed  our  vision,  now  fills  it  with  perfect  satisfac- 
tion and  unalloyed  delight.   And  just  so  is  it,  when  we  turn 

1  S.  John  i.  18.  2  1  Tim.  vi.  16  3  Exodus  xxxiii.  20. 


536  Christ  our  Light, 

from  the  ineffable,  invisible  and  unapproachable  Godhead, 
to  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  1  —  to  Him  who  took  upon 
Him  our  weaknesses  and  carried  our  sorrows,  who  calls 
Himself  our  Brother,  and  gathers  about  Him  all  the  ten- 
derest  affections  of  our  nature.  0  how  mild,  how  benefi- 
cent, how  precious  does  the  Divinity  shine  forth  in  Him ! 
How  quickly  do  we  learn  from  Him,  and  in  Him,  and 
through  Him,  the  character  and  the  attributes  and  the 
purposes  of  that  Godhead  which  we  cannot  otherwise  ap- 
proach !  What  words  of  wisdom  flow  from  His  lips  !  He 
speaks  as  never  man  spake.  What  floods  of  light  are  cast 
upon  life  and  immortality !  How  all  the  mysteries  of  our 
being  open  under  His  Divine  teachings,  leaving  nothing 
mysterious,  save  the  great  mystery  of  godliness  itself! 
How  all  the  wants  of  our  nature  are  satisfied :  wants  man- 
ifested by  man  in  the  thousand  devices  he  has  adopted  to 
bring  the  Godhead  down  to  earth,  and  put  into  words  by 
Job  when  he  said :  "  0  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find 
him !  that  I  might  come  even  to  his  seat !  0  that  one 
might  plead  for  a  man  with  God,  as  a  man  pleadeth  for  his 
neighbor  !  "  2  Truly  can  we  say  that  the  Psalmist  uttered 
the  truth  of  prophecy  when  he  said  :  "  In  thy  light  shall 
we  see  light ;  "  and  that  the  Mcene  Fathers  expressed 
most  happily  the  idea  of  Scripture,  when,  in  the  Creed 
which  is  called  after  their  Council,  they  designated  our 
blessed  Lord  as  "  Light  of  Light." 

My  answer,  then,  to  your  question  of  mingled  wonder 
and  indignation,  will  depend,  as  I  said  just  now,  upon  your 
capability  of  meeting  the  tests  of  Scripture  which  are 
placed  by  inspiration  right  across  your  pathway.  In  that 
sublime  introduction  to  his  Gospel,  in  which  S.  John  opens 
so  magnificently  the  essential  Divinity  of  our  Lord,  "In 
the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God, 
1 1  Tim.  iii.  16.  2  Job  xxiii.  3,  and  xvi.  21. 


Christ  our  Light,  537 

and  the  Word  was  God  :  " 1  he  says,  "  In  him  was  life ;  and 
the  life  was  the  light  of  men.  And  the  light  shineth  in 
darkness  ;  and  the  darkness  comprehended  it  not."  2  Here 
is  your  first  test.  Do  you  comprehend  the  light  which  has 
been  brought  in  through  Jesus  Christ,  to  wit,  His  wisdom, 
His  righteousness,  His  sanctification,  His  redemption? 
Do  you  perceive  and  confess  the  Cross  of  Christ  to  be  the 
power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God,  unto  salvation  ? 
All  light  short  of  this  is  no  Light  at  all.  Salvation  is 
what  Christ  came  to  procure.  Whatever  may  be  the  col- 
lateral blessings  of  Christianity  —  and  they  are  many  —  this 
is  its  absorbing  purpose.  And  though  you  understand  all 
mysteries,  and  all  knowledge,  if  you  understand  not  this, 
you  are  yet  in  darkness.  The  promise  was :  "  Howbeit, 
when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you 
into  all  truth.  ...  He  shall  glorify  me :  for  he  shall 
receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you." 3  Hath  this 
Spirit  of  Truth  dealt  with  you,  my  hearer  ?  Hath  this  per- 
ception of  Light  been  given  you,  so  that  you  can  say,  "  One 
thing  I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see"?4 
If  it  has  not,  then  are  you  still  in  darkness,  although  en- 
compassed with  light ;  and  you  have  yet  to  beseech  God 
to  enable  you  to  say :  "  In  thy  Light  do  I  see  Light." 

Let  me  apply  another  test.  S.  John  tells  us  very  plainly 
concerning  the  Son  of  God :  "  He  that  believeth  on  him 
is  not  condemned  :  but  he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned 
already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the  name  of  the 
only-begotten  Son  of  God.  And  this  is  the  condemnation, 
that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil."  5  Here, 
again,  belief  in  Jesus  Christ  is  made  salvation,  and  unbe- 
lief condemnation.    Now  apply  this  test  to  yourself,  my 

1  S.  John  i.  1,  2.  2  Ridt  4)  5<  3  lud.  xvi.  13,  14. 

*  Ibid.  ix.  25.  5  fad.  iii.  18,  19. 


538  Christ  our  Light. 

hearer,  and  do  it  honestly :  apply  it  in  no  superficial  way, 
in  no  such  way  as  shall  permit  you  to  deceive  yourself. 
Frame  not  out  of  your  imagination  a  system  which  you 
may  choose  to  call  Christianity,  and  then,  comparing  that 
with  your  feelings,  tell  me  that  you  have  no  unbelief  in 
Christianity,  no  dislike  of  the  Light  of  Truth,  no  love  for 
darkness  !  That  will  not  do.  David  did  not  say,  "  In  our 
Light  shall  we  see  light."  He  appealed  to  a  Holy  God, 
who  searcheth  the  heart,  and  said :  "  In  thy  Light  shall 
we  see  light ;  "  and  therefore,  when  you  would  understand 
your  spiritual  condition,  you  must  place  your  feelings 
under  the  blaze  of  that  Kevelation,  which  our  Lord,  Light 
of  Light,  has  given  us  for  our  instruction.  A  man  cannot 
serve  two  masters,  for  he  will  certainly  love  the  one  and 
hate  the  other :  and  no  more  can  you  dwell  in  two  such 
states,  at  once,  as  Light  and  Darkness.  The  one  will  ex- 
tinguish the  other.  And  you  will  find,  when  you  are  forced 
to  make  the  choice  between  Light  and  Darkness,  that,  un- 
less enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  you  will  confess  that, 
if  this  be  Light,  you  prefer  darkness,  and  embrace  condem- 
nation. 

Taking  these  two  tests  as  our  rule  of  judgment,  let  me 
ask  you,  of  what  avail  will  progression  in  physical  science, 
will  improvements  in  the  comforts  of  social  life,  will  ad- 
vancements in  the  arts  and  refinements  of  civilization  be  to 
you,  in  removing  your  darkness,  and  giving  you  Light? 
What  perception  can  they  give  you  of  spiritual  life  ? 
"  For  what  man,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  knoweth  the  things 
of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  in  him  ?  even  so 
the  things  of  God  knoweth  no  man,  but  the  Spirit  of 
God." 1  The  more  you  strive  to  find  out  God  through  in- 
tellectual processes,  the  more  will  you  have  to  acknowledge, 
if  you  are  really  in  earnest  in  your  search  :  "  Such  knowl- 

1 1  Cor.  ii.  11. 


Christ  our  Light.  539 

edge  is  too  wonderful  for  me ;  it  is  high,  I  cannot  attain 
unto  it."  1  Your  progress  will  be  like  that  of  a  child,  who 
thinks  that  he  could  touch  the  heavens  by  climbing  to  the 
summit  of  some  lofty  mountain.  He  would  find  to  his  dis- 
may, could  he  compass  his  desire,  that  the  higher  he 
climbed  the  further  would  the  skies  seem  to  withdraw 
themselves  from  him,  and  leave  him  in  a  cold,  thin  atmos- 
phere, where  there  would  be  no  comfort,  no  ease,  no  peace, 
and  where  he  might  find  destruction.  You,  my  hearer, 
may  pile  reason  upon  reason,  and  argument  upon  argu- 
ment, but  you  will  not  be  able  to  compass  your  vain  desire. 
God  will  be  as  far  away  from  you  when  you  shall  have  done 
all  this,  as  He  was  when  you  began  your  toilsome  search  ; 
and  your  intellectual  efforts  will  place  you  every  moment 
in  a  more  comfortless  and  hopeless  positiou.  Think  you 
that  you  are  the  first  who  has  tried  this  experiment  ?  We 
have  the  experience  of  one  who  tried  it  near  four  thousand 
years  ago,  and  his  record  is :  "  Canst  thou  by  searching 
find  out  God  ? ....  It  is  as  high  as  heaven ;  what  canst 
thou  do  ?  deeper  than  hell ;  what  canst  thou  know  ?  "  2 
Light,  as  the  Psalmist  tells  us,  is  sown  for  the  righteous  : 
but  nowhere  are  we  told  that  it  is  sown  for  the  intellectual, 
or  the  refined,  or  the  civilized,  merely  as  such. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  let  me  point  you  to  Him,  who 
proclaimed  from  that  central  spot  of  earth  which  God  had 
chosen  for  His  Temple  and  His  Altar :  "  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world  :  he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness, 
but  shall  have  the  light  of  life."  3  Let  me  beseech  you 
to  lay  aside  this  useless  struggle  after  Light  through  nat- 
ural processes ;  and  at  once,  while  you  have  the  light,  pray 
to  God  to  give  you  His  Holy  Spirit,  that  He  may  manifest 
Christ  unto  you.  Out  of  Christ  there  is  no  Light  for  man. 
"  The  Lord  said  that  He  would  dwell  in  the  thick  dark- 

1  Psalm  cxxxix.  6.  2  Job.  xi.  7,  8.  3  S.  John  viii.  12. 


540 


Christ  our  Light. 


ness ; " 1  and  what  He  said,  He  will  perform  in  any  case 
where  His  Light  is  attempted  to  be  put  aside.  In  Christ  is 
Light :  out  of  Christ  is  darkness,  gross  darkness.  God  has 
no  light  for  the  proud :  He  "  resisteth  the  proud," 2  says 
S.  James.  "  Behold,  all  ye  that  kindle  a  fire,"  are  the 
words  of  Isaiah,  "  that  compass  yourselves  about  with 
sparks  :  walk  in  the  light  of  your  fire,  and  in  the  sparks 
that  ye  have  kindled.  This  shall  ye  have  of  mine  hand ; 
ye  shall  lie  down  in  sorrow."3  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  says:  "For  thus  saith  the  high  and  lofty  One  that 
inhabiteth  eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy;  I  dwell  in  the 
high  and  holy  place,  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  contrite 
and  humble  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and 
to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite  ones."  4 

And  let  us  not  forget,  my  fellow-Christians,  who  profess 
that  we  are  in  the  Light,  that  we  ourselves  were  "  some 
time  in  darkness,"  and  that  by  the  grace  of  God  we  are 
what  we  are.  Let  us  not  be  high-minded,  but  fear.  Re- 
move that  grace,  and  our  candle  would  go  out.  Depend 
for  a  single  day  upon  ourselves,  and  darkness  will  begin  to 
gather  around  us.  Let  us  keep  abidingly  with  us  the 
glorious  truth  of  our  text,  "In  thy  light  shall  we  see 
light,"  and  strive  to  walk  unceasingly  in  the  stream  that 
radiates  from  the  Cross  of  our  Saviour.  "  The  path  of  the 
just,  "  says  Solomon,  "  is  as  the  shining  light,  that  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day  :  "  5  and  that  was  be- 
fore the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arose  upon  the  earth.  How 
much  more  now,  when  that  Sun  is  casting  its  full  sunshine 
upon  the  world  !  While  we  have  the  Light,  let  us  walk  in 
the  Light:  lest  darkness  come  upon  us,  and  our  "feet 
stumble  upon  the  dark  mountains."  6 


August  12,  1866. 


1 1  Kings  viii.  12. 
4  Ibid,  lvii.  15. 


2  S.  James  iv.  6. 
5  Proverbs  iv.  18. 


3  Isaiah  1.  11. 
6  Jer.  xiii  16. 


tfort?*mntl}  Sermon . 


Wherefore  seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a 
cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which 
doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is 
set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  of  our 
faith.  —  Hebrews  xii.  i,  2. 

TT  is  exceedingly  difficult  for  us  as  Christians,  struggling 
after  victory,  to  conceive  how  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
finish  our  course  with  joy.  We  read  of  such  conquerors  in 
the  Bible  ;  we  see  their  names  embalmed  in  the  pages  of 
Inspiration ;  we  hear  their  songs  of  triumph  as  they  enter 
into  rest :  but  we  separate  them  from  ourselves  by  a  dis- 
tance as  great  as  that  which  separates  the  heavens  from 
the  earth.  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Moses,  and  David, 
and  Paul,  it  is  true,  have  fought  the  good  fight,  have  kept 
the  faith,  and  deserve  the  crown  of  righteousness  which  is 
laid  up  for  them.  But  while  we  admit  this,  we  do  not, 
in  reality,  consider  these  Saints  of  the  Bible  as  flesh  and 
blood.  We  elevate  them,  as  ideal  beings,  into  some  imag- 
inary condition ;  and  take  neither  example  nor  comfort 
from  their  struggles,  and  their  success.  We  consider  them 
as  a  part  not  of  the  history  but  the  machinery  of  our  re- 
ligion ;  ■ —  not  as  men  born  in  sin,  heirs  of  corruption,  and 
redeemed  by  the  Blood  of  Christ :  but  as  superior  beings, 
occupying  a  higher  sphere,  breathing  a  more  spiritual 
atmosphere,  and  holding  a  closer  and  more  intimate  com- 
munion with  God.  As  the  books  of  the  Bible  were  instru- 
mentally  composed  by  them,  we  invest  them  with  the  awe 
and  the  veneration  which  properly  surrounds  the  inspiration 


54 2  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses, 

of  God ;  and,  in  spite  of  our  own  understanding,  give  them 
a  place  in  the  scale  of  being  something  akin  to  that  which 
intermediate  deities  hold  in  the  systems  of  paganism.  It  is 
only  after  a  great  struggle  that  we  can  be  brought  to  ad- 
mit any  likeness  in  nature  or  situation  between  them  and 
ourselves,  and  to  look  upon  them  as  witnesses  of  the 
promises  and  hopes  of  the  Gospel. 

This  is  unfortunate ;  for,  in  running  the  race  which  is  set 
before  us,  we  do  need  all  the  encouragement  which  we  can 
receive  from  man  as  well  as  from  God.  The  Bible  will  not 
permit  us  to  consider  the  acquisition  of  the  crown  of  right- 
eousness as  an  easy  victory.  It  places  it  within  our  reach ; 
it  surrounds  it  with  all  the  glory  which  language  or  con- 
ception can  give  it ;  it  invites,  it  encourages,  it  entreats  us 
with  all  the  eloquence  of  tongues  touched  with  a  live  coal 
from  off  the  altar,  to  strive  after  it :  but  tells  us  at  the  same 
time,  in  language  which  cannot  be  misunderstood,  that  it 
is  no  easy  conquest.  All  the  words  which  express  a  great 
struggle  are  used  to  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  Christian 
the  understanding  and  the  experience  of  the  sacred  writers 
in  regard  to  it.  It  is  a  fight,  in  which  Christians  are  urged 
to  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God ;  it  is  a  race,  in  which 
they  are  warned  to  cast  aside  every  weight  and  the  sin 
which  doth  most  easily  beset  them;  it  is  an  agony,  in 
which  we  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
principalities,  against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the 
darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high 
places.  Descriptions  like  these  do  not  look  as  if  the  au- 
thors of  them  considered  victory  as  a  very  certain  or  a  very 
light  thing;  and  therefore  is  it  that  they  surround  the 
arena  with  all  the  light,  and  hope,  and  promise,  that  they 
are  permitted  to  heap  together  for  the  encouragement  of 
the  combatants.  For  this  purpose  S.  Paul,  in  writing  to 
the  Hebrews,  summons  up  from  the  past  all  the  heroic  men 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 


543 


who  had  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  passes  them 
before  his  readers  as  witnesses  to  the  great  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  —  as  palpable  evidence  of  the  power  of  grace  in 
sustaining  men  like  ourselves  in  the  unequal  strife  which 
they  were  called  to  wage.  u  Seeing  then,"  says  he,  "  that 
we  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses, 
....  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
us."  Now  it  would  be  no  encouragement  at  all,  if  these 
witnesses  were  not  men  of  like  infirmities  and  like  condi- 
tion with  ourselves.  The  success  of  an  angel  would  give 
no  warrant  of  success  to  us.  The  triumph  of  an  imaginary 
being  would  ensure  no  triumph  to  a  being  of  flesh  and 
blood.  The  whole  force  of  the  illustration  rests  upon  the 
truth  of  the  position  that  these  Scriptural  witnesses  were 
as  sinful,  as  frail,  as  weak  as  ourselves,  and  have  conquered 
through  like  means  with  those  which  are  placed  within  our 
grasp.  They  stand  as  a  connecting  link  between  us  and 
our  Saviour,  breaking  the  awful  distance,  and  bidding  us 
hope,  that  as  they  have  conquered  in  His  strength,  so  may 
we,  if  we  are  patient  and  watchful,  one  day  carry  the  palm 
branches  of  victory  in  our  hands. 

The  truth  is,  that  so  far  from  these  witnesses  not  being 
real  and  proper  examples  to  us,  we  really  enjoy  higher 
privileges  of  a  religious  kind  than  they  did.  "  These  all," 
says  the  Apostle,  after  enumerating  by  name  some  of  this 
cloud  of  witnesses,  and  grouping  a  multitude  of  others 
under  various  titles  of  suffering,  "  having  obtained  a  good 
report  through  faith,  received  not  the  promise :  God  having 
provided  some  better  thing  for  us,  that  they  without  us 
should  not  be  made  perfect."  1  They  lived  under  the  Law ; 
we  live  under  the  Gospel :  "  for  the  Law,"  says  S.  John, 
"  was  given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ." 2    They  were  partakers  of  the  Old  Covenant :  we 

i  Heb.  xii.  39,  40.  2  S.  John  i.  17. 


544 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 


are  the  partakers  of  the  New,  according  to  that  rich  prom- 
ise of  God  in  Jeremiah  :  "  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the 
Lord,  when  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of 
Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah.  ...  I  will  put  my 
laws  into  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their  hearts."1 
They  had  earthly  priests  and  an  earthly  tabernacle  :  priests 
who  needed  daily  to  offer  up  sacrifices  first  for  their  own 
sins  and  then  for  the  people  ;  —  a  tabernacle  which,  though 
made  according  to  the  pattern  showed  to  Moses  in  the 
mount,  was  yet  made  with  hands.  We  have  an  High 
Priest  with  an  unchangeable  Priesthood,  consecrated  for 
evermore,  and  ever  living  to  make  intercession  for  us ;  — 
and  a  Tabernacle  which  the  Lord  pitched,  and  not  man. 
Surely,  therefore,  if  these  conquered  under  all  these  disad- 
vantages, much  more  may  we  hope  to  conquer,  if  we  follow 
them  as  they  followed  Christ.  If  they,  resting  merely  upon 
promises,  had  grace  and  strength  sufficient  to  overcome  the 
world  :  we,  who  have  the  fulfillment  of  that  promise  in  the 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  may  ask  with  confidence, 
"  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea 
rather,  that  is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  who  also  maketh  intercession  for  us.  Who  shall  sep- 
arate us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?  Shall  tribulation,  or  dis- 
tress, or  persecution,  or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or 
sword  ?  .  .  .  .  Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than 
conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us."  2 

This  cloud  of  Saints  surrounds  us,  then,  as  a  cloud  of 
witnesses,  testifying  to  us  for  example,  for  encouragement, 
for  comfort ;  testifying  as  men  testify  when  they  sympa- 
thize in  each  other's  troubles  and  struggles,  and  cheer  each 
other  up  against  adverse  fortune.  They  are  represented  by 
the  Apostle  as  a  cloud  compassing  the  living,  struggling 
Church  of  God,  animating  their  weary  and  desponding 
i  Heb.  viii.  8,  10.  2  Rom.  viii.  34,  35,  37. 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  545 

spirits  not  merely  by  words,  not  merely  by  promises,  but  by 
their  presence,  —  a  presence  seen  by  the  eye  of  Faith,  even 
as  the  servant  of  the  Prophet  saw,  when  his  eyes  were 
opened,  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  innumerable  round  his 
master  :  and  when  the  Christian  asks,  — 

Who  are  these  in  bright  array  1 
This  innumerable  throng, 

Round  the  Altar,  night  and  day- 
Tuning  their  triumphant  song  1 

the  answer  comes,  —  "  Sir,  thou  knowest :  "  1  this  is  that 
great  cloud  of  witnesses  mentioned  by  S.  Paul  as  com- 
passing the  struggling  Church.  These  are  they  which 
came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  2  It  is  as 
when  a  poor  shipwrecked  creature,  who  is  buffeting  with 
the  waves  and  is  almost  ready  to  perish,  sees  those  who 
were  in  like  condition  with  himself  standing  in  safety  upon 
the  shore,  and  hears  their  cheers  of  animating  hope  ring- 
ing above  the  blasts  of  the  tempest,  — "  Fear  not !  When 
thou  passest  through  the  waters,  they  shall  not  overflow 
thee  :  for  His  everlasting  arms  are  underneath  thee." 

And  what  do  they  bear  witness  to  ?  What  says  this 
cloud  of  witnesses  to  the  struggling  soul  ?  "  As  thou  art," 
Owen  has  beautifully  worded  it,  "  so  were  we ;  so  guilty,  so 
perplexed,  so  obnoxious  to  wrath,  so  fearing  destruction 
from  God.  And  what  way  did  you  steer,  what  course  did 
you  take,  to  obtain  the  blessed  condition  wherein  now  you 
are?  Say  they,  we  went  all  to  God  through  Christ  for 
forgiveness,  and  found  plenty  of  peace,  mercy,  and  pardon 
in  Him  for  us  all.  The  rich  man  in  the  parable  thought 
it  would  be  a  great  means  of  conversion  if  one  should  rise 
from  the  dead  and  preach.  But  here  we  see  that  all  the 
Saints  departed  and  now  in  glory  do  jointly  preach  this 
fundamental  truth,  that  there  is  forgiveness  with  God." 

i  Eev.  vii.  14.  2  Ibid, 

35 


546  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

And  have  you,  my  hearer,  no  personal  interest  in  that 
cloud  of  witnesses  ?  Are  there  no  sacred  forms  there  that 
hare  once  upon  earth  guided  you  in  the  ways  of  virtue  and 
religion  ?  Are  there  no  familiar  voices  coming  to  you 
from  that  land  of  spirits,  and  cheering  you  onward  to 
Heaven  ?  Are  there  none  there  who  have  walked  side  hy 
side  with  you  in  this  vale  of  tears,  and  talked  with  you  of 
the  land  of  rest  and  peace  ?  See  you  no  mother  there  ? 
Recognize  you  no  tone  that  carries  you  hack  to  the  fresh- 
ness of  childhood,  when  in  innocence  and  in  faith  you 
looked  up  into  that  beloved  face,  and  drank  in  the  teach- 
ings of  Truth?  See  you  no  wife  there?  Hear  you  no 
gentle  voice,  sweet  as  the  memory  of  love  can  make  it, 
whispering*  to  you  words  of  urgency  and  of  hope?  Are 
there  no  cherubs  amid  that  group  beckoning  to  the  smitten 
hearts  from  which  they  have  been  torn,  calling,  in  those 
accents  of  tenderness  which  can  never  be  forgotten,  upon 
father  and  mother  to  look  to  Jesus  and  be  saved  ?  They 
are  all  there :  although  unseen,  —  unheard  perhaps  for 
lack  of  faith, — still  there,  a  portion  of  that  cloud,  witness- 
ing to  you  through  memories  dearer  than  any  present  joys, 
speaking  to  heart  and  to  conscience  of  the  love  of  God  in 
Christ.  If  the  Patriarchs  are  there ;  if  the  sweet  Psalm- 
ist is  there ;  if  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  is  there : 
then  are  all  of  ours  who  have  died  in  faith  there,  and  we 
may  realize  in  their  spiritual  presence  the  encouragement, 
the  hope,  the  joy,  which  their  triumphant  victory  can  give 
ius ! 

"  Poor  souls,"  says  the  author  from  whom  I  quoted  a 
'little  while  ago,  "  are  apt  to  think  that  all  those  whom  they 
read  or  hear  of  to  be  gone  to  Heaven,  went  thither  because 
they  were  so  good  and  holy."  Are  not  these  your  present 
thoughts,  my  hearer?  Does  not  this  rise  up  in  your  mind 
whenever  this  cloud  of  witnesses  is  mentioned  ?  "  And  yet," 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  547 

continues  Owen,  "  not  one  of  them,  not  any  one  that  is 
now  in  heaven,  Jesus  Christ  alone  excepted,  did  ever  come 
thither  any  other  way  but  by  forgiveness  of  sin ;  and  that 
will  also  bring  us  thither,  though  we  come  short  of  many 
of  them  in  holiness  and  grace."  Those  witnesses  are  not 
sent,  my  hearers,  to  discourage  us  by  their  imaginary  ho- 
liness. They  are  sent  as  illustrations  of  the  great  truths 
of  the  Gospel ;  as  bearing  testimony  that  mercy  and  grace 
have  come  by  Jesus  Christ ;  as  examples  of  the  patience,  of 
the  long  suffering  of  God.  They  encompass  us,  so  that 
which  ever  way  we  look  we  may  see  the  image  of  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  face  of  Christ  Jesus  reflected  from  the  beam- 
ing, triumphant  looks  of  those  we  have  loved,  and  taken 
sweet  counsel  with,  upon  earth. 

How  little  do  we  realize  this  privilege  !  How  the  earth 
and  things  earthly  shut  out  these  divine  visions  !  We  need 
every  help  and  every  encouragement  which  the  Bible  can 
give  us,  and  we  permit  sense  to  obscure  the  most  cheering 
prospects  which  it  opens  before  us.  Alas  for  our  weakness  ! 
Let  us  no  longer  use  this  cloud  of  witnesses  to  dishearten 
us,  but  to  animate  us.  Let  us  henceforward  be  taught  by 
it  the  practical  lesson  of  our  text,  —  "  to  run  with  patience 
the  race  that  is  set  before  us." 

When  we  take  up  this  cloud  of  witnesses  individually, 
and  separate  one  of  them  from  the  group  with  which  he 
stands  connected,  we  perceive  that  he  has  reached  his  pres- 
ent position  of  triumph  by  having  passed,  in  faith  and  with 
patience,  through  the  course  along-  which  God  has  led  him. 
A  being  of  like  infirmities  and  passions  with  ourselves, 
born  in  sin,  clothed  with  flesh  and  blood,  a  citizen  of  the 
same  world  we  contend  against,  hunted  by  the  same  adver- 
sary who  goeth  about  like  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he 
may  devour :  he  has  so  lived,  and  so  acted,  as  to  have  been 
made  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  Saints  in  light.  He 


548  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

had  a  life  to  live  upon  earth,  having1  the  like  temptations., 
the  like  duties,  the  like  trials  with  those  which  beset  us  : 
and  his  position  among  the  cloud  of  witnesses  teaches  us 
that  he  has  been  enabled  to  say,  "  I  have  kept  the  faith." 
As  with  them,  so  with  us.  A  race  is  set  before  us.  A 
course  is  marked  out  for  us.  Not  a  temptation  there,  from 
which  He  has  not  made  a  way  of  escape.  Not  a  trial,  in 
which  His  grace  is  not  sufficient  for  us.  Not  a  burden, 
which  He  has  not  promised  to  carry  for  us.  Our  part  is, 
not  to  quarrel  with  our  lot,  not  to  murmur  against  the 
arrangements  and  dispensations  of  Providence,  not  to  im- 
agine concerning  the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  us  as 
though  some  strange  thing  happened  unto  us :  but  to  run 
with  patience  whatever  race  may  be  set  before  us.  It  may 
prove  a  severe  struggle.  We  may  have  to  win  the  crown 
through  much  suffering.  Tears  and  groans  and  agony 
may  mark  much  of  the  way.  But  this  should  not  move 
the  Christian  from  his  integrity,  —  should  not  shake  the 
faith  of  the  combatant  in  his  final  victory.  His  Saints 
have  all  suffered.  It  has  been  their  universal  lot;  nay,  it 
is  made  the  very  condition  of  reigning.  "  It  is  a  faithful 
saying :  For  if  we  be  dead  with  him,  we  shall  also  live 
with  him  :  if  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him."  1 
"  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we 
are  the  children  of  God  :  and  if  children,  then  heirs ;  heirs 
of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ ;  if  so  be  that  we  suffer 
with  him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  together." 2 
"  Take,  my  brethren,"  says  S.  James,  "  the  prophets,  who 
have  spoken  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  for  an  example  of 
suffering  affliction,  and  of  patience.  Behold  we  count 
them  happy  which  endure."  3  Job  knew  this  well  when  he 
said,  "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him." 4  Our 

i  2  Tim.  ii.  11,  12.  2  Rom.  viii.  16,  17. 

3  S.  James  v.  10,  11.  *  Job  xiii.  15. 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 


549 


work  is  to  press  forward  in  the  race  :  not  halting  to  weep 
over  the  ruggedness  of  the  way ;  not  fainting  because  diffi- 
culties beset  the  path,  not  turning  back  because  there  is  a 
lion  in  the  track :  but  if  we  must  needs  weep  and  groan 
and  tremble,  let  us  do  it  while  we  yet  run,  if  so  be  it  end 
in  patience.  God  knows  better  than  we  do  what  is  our  ne- 
cessary share  of  chastisement,  and  what  form  it  shall  put  on  ; 
and  He  sees  likewise,  what  we  find  it  very  hard  to  see,  how 
much  of  it  is  brought  upon  us  by  ourselves.  If  any  thing 
should  teach  us  patience,  it  is  this  consideration,  —  that 
while  there  is  much  of  affliction  and  of  suffering  which  is 
trial,  there  is  also  a  very  large  share  which  our  Heavenly 
Father  puts  upon  us  as  chastisement  for  our  sins.  Let  us 
not  faint  nor  grow  weary,  therefore,  when  we  are  rebuked 
of  Him ;  for  afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of 
righteousness  to  them  who  are  exercised  thereby. 

This  patience  in  running  the  race  that  is  set  before  us  is 
not  attained,  however,  unless  we  observe  the  injunctions  of 
the  Apostle  in  our  text.  This  cloud  of  witnesses  inspires 
us  with  hope,  renews  the  ardor  of  our  first  love,  kindles 
afresh  the  zeal  which  urged  us  to  enter  upon  the  Christian 
race.  Let  us  therefore  cast  aside  every  weight,  and  the 
sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us !  The  candidate  for  the 
olive  crown  at  Olympia  stripped  himself  of  every  incum- 
brance that  might  for  an  instant  clog  his  movements.  He 
cast  every  thing  away  that  might  hinder,  in  the  least,  his 
chance  for  triumph  in  the  contest  he  was  waging.  Earnest 
in  his  purpose,  single-minded  in  his  object,  heart  and  soul 
absorbed  in  the  hope  of  victory,  he  counted  every  thing  as 
a  weight  which  impeded  his  onward  movements.  In  like 
manner  does  the  Apostle  enjoin  upon  us  who  desire  to  fin- 
ish our  course  with  joy,  to  cast  aside  every  thiug  which 
may  hinder  our  heavenly  race,  and  especially  that  besetting 
sin  of  unbelief.    But  alas !  how  different  is  our  practice ! 


550  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

Instead  of  stripping  off  and  casting  aside  feelings,  tempers, 
habits,  desires,  imaginations,  which  are  adverse  to  the  life 
of  God  in  the  soul,  we  are  perpetually  renewing  them,  even 
when  God  has  again  and  again  smitten  and  crushed  them. 
He  says  to  us,  as  plainly  as  he  said  of  Edom  of  old,  —  "  They 
shall  build,  but  I  will  throw  down :  "  and  we  weave  afresh, 
in  the  very  face  of  the  tempests  which  are  beating  upon  us, 
the  webs  of  fancy  and  of  hope  which  keep  us  on  enchanted 
ground  !  How  sad  it  is  to  see  the  children  of  God  taking 
up  burdens  instead  of  laying  them  down,  —  twining  their 
affections  around  objects  which  hinder  them  in  their  race, 
and  from  which  they  must  be  violently  torn,  with  suffering 
and  anguish,  ere  they  can  run  with  patience  their  allotted 
race  !  And  yet  nothing  is  more  common  than  this  struggle 
against  God  ;  —  this  putting  on  as  fast  as  He  strips  off ;  — - 
this  adding  weight  to  weight,  while  He  bids  us  cast  every 
weight  away.  There  can  be  no  patience  while  this  contest 
is  going  on.  It  is  our  will  against  God's  will.  It  is  a 
strife  in  which  there  will  be  murmuring,  and  perchance 
rebellion,  against  the  arrangements  of  God.  Patience 
comes  when  this  strife  is  ended  ;  when  the  will  of  man  is 
merged  into  the  will  of  God ;  when,  humble  as  a  little  child, 
the  Christian  yields  implicitly  to  the  guidance  of  his  Heav- 
enly Father,  sees  all  his  idols  broken  without  a  single  mur- 
mur, and  through  tears  of  thankfulness  acknowledges  with 
David,  —  "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted." 

The  hardest  of  all  hindrances  to  our  patience  is  the  sin 
which  doth  most  easily  beset  us  !  It  is  not,  as  it  is  often 
carelessly  understood,  some  particular  besetting  sin  of  the 
individual :  but  it  is  the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  every 
one  of  us,  the  sin  of  unbelief!  Men  often  flippantly  say 
when  the  Gospel  is  preached,  when  grace  is  magnified, 
when  Faith  is  held  up  and  pressed  as  the  sole  instrument 
of  justification  with  God,  that  it  is  making  religion  too  easy, 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  551 

Heaven  too  attainable,  —  encouraging  sin,  that  grace  may 
abound !  Alas  !  my  hearers,  there  is  a  dead  faith  that  it  is 
easy  enough  to  lay  claim  to,  and  to  boast  of :  but  the  faith 
which  worketh  by  love  is  the  hardest  thing  in  heaven  or 
earth  to  procure  or  maintain.  Unbelief  is  natural  to  us. 
It  besets  us,  as  the  Apostle  intimates,  on  every  hand ;  and 
at  all  times,  it  is  forever  assailing  us,  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave.  ~No  matter  how  graciously  God  may  have 
dealt  with  us,  in  how  many  ways  we  have  experienced  His 
loving-kindness  :  we  are  perpetually  doubting  His  love  and 
mercy  !  We  cannot  believe  that  He  has  sent  His  only 
Son  to  die  upon  the  Cross,  that  we,  through  faith  and  the 
sprinkling  of  Blood,  may  find  forgiveness  and  acceptance ! 
When  that  is  forced  upon  us  by  irresistible  evidence,  why, 
then  we  cannot  believe  that  forgiveness  will  be  given  of 
grace,  without  money  and  without  price  !  When,  through 
a  grateful  experience,  we  become  convinced  of  this,  we 
cannot  believe  that  we  shall  be  guided  along  our  path 
to  Heaven  by  the  same  love  which  hath  placed  us  in  it ! 
Every  dark  hour  that  lowers  upon  us,  —  every  fiery  trial 
through  which  God  passes  us,  —  all  the  deep  waters 
through  which  He  makes  us  wade,  —  are  so  many  evi- 
dences of  His  having  forsaken  us !  The  richest  processes 
of  His  love  are  converted,  through  this  alchemy  of  the 
natural  heart,  into  causes  of  distrust ;  and  we  go,  halting, 
through  our  whole  pilgrimage,  because  we  cannot  rise  up 
to  the  height  of  that  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowl- 
edge. Although  He  tells  us :  "  My  thoughts  are  not  your 
thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  My  ways  :  " 1  we  will  clothe 
Him  with  the  attributes  of  our  own  wretched  natures,  for- 
getting that  He  is  God  and  not  man,  and  that  He  has  pro- 
claimed His  Name  as  "  The  Lord,  The  Lord  God,  merci- 
ful and  gracious,  long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness 

1  Isaiah  lv.  8. 


552  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses. 

and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity 
and  transgression  and  sin." 1  This  sin,  the  Apostle  espe- 
cially declares,  must  be  cast  away  ere  we  can  run  with 
patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us;  for  the  heart  of 
unbelief  transforms  the  Gospel  into  a  yoke  of  bondage, 
—  our  Father  into  a  consuming  Fire,  —  the  very  throne 
of  Grace  itself  into  a  throne  of  Judgment ! 

But  you  will  say,  How  is  all  this  to  be  done  ?  —  Whence 
is  to  come  the  power  that  will  enable  me  to  cast  aside 
every  weight,  and  especially  the  sin  of  unbelief?  The 
Apostle  answers  :  "  Through  Jesus  :  "  —  "  Looking  unto 
Jesus  as  the  Finisher,  no  less  than  the  Author,  of  our 
Faith."  It  was  He,  by  His  Spirit,  who  awoke  within  us 
the  first  glimmerings  of  belief.  It  was  He,  who  roused  us 
from  the  death  of  trespasses  and  sins,  saying,  "  Awake 
thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ 
shall  give  thee  light."  2  It  was  He,  who  changed  the  heart 
of  stone  into  a  heart  of  flesh,  and  wrote  upon  it  the  super- 
natural words  of  faith  and  of  love.  It  was  He,  who  by  that 
same  Spirit  has  been  working  persistently  with  that  same 
heart,  sanctifying  and  purifying  it,  and  changing  it  into 
His  own  image,  from  glory  to  glory.  And  having  begun 
in  the  Spirit,  shall  we  end  in  the  flesh  ?  Having  received 
the  Lord  Jesus  as  our  Wisdom,  our  Righteousness,  our 
Sanctification,  our  Redemption,  shall  we  turn  again  to  the 
beggarly  elements,  and  desire  again  to  be  in  bondage? 
God  forbid  !  Jesus  Christ  must  be  the  Finisher  as  well  as 
the  Author  of  our  Faith ;  must  perfect  that  in  glory  which 
He  has  begun  in  grace  !  If  you  need  faith,  look  unto  Jesus. 
In  Him  is  the  fullness  of  that  grace  which  freely  giveth 
Faith !  If  you  need  spiritual  strength,  look  unto  Jesus. 
You  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  strengthening  you ! 
If  you  need  mercy,  look  unto  Jesus.  Mercy  and  Truth 
1  Exod.  xxxiv.  6,  7.  2  Eph.  v.  14. 


The  Cloud  of  Witnesses.  553 

came  by  Him.  Keep  your  eye  fixed  upon  Him,  and  all  else 
will  prove  easy  !  Weights  will  fall  off,  and  not  tarry  to  be 
cast  away.  Unbelief  will  wither  under  the  brightness  of 
His  light,  and  shrink  away  abashed  before  His  glory ! 
Keep  your  eye  fixed  steadily  upon  Him :  for  He  is  the 
brightness  of  His  Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of 
His  Person ;  and  "  we  all,  with  open  face  beholding  as  in 
a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  shall  be  "  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord."1 

1  2  Cor.  iii.  18. 


ifftfttety  Sermon. 


For  the  Son  of  Man  is  as  a  man  taking  a  far  journey,  who  left 
his  house,  a?id  gave  authority  to  his  servants,  and  to  every  man  his 
work,  and  commanded  the  porter  to  watch.  Watch  ye  therefore : 
for  ye  know  not  when  the  master  of  the  house  cometh,  at  even,  or  at 
midnight,  or  at  the  cock-crowing,  or  in  the  morning :  lest  coming 
suddenly  he  find  you  sleeping.  And  what  I  say  unto  you  I  say 
unto  all,  Watch.  —  S.  Mark  xiii.  34-37. 

/~\UR  Saviour  had  taken  occasion  from  an  observation  of 


one  of  His  Disciples  as  He  went  out  of  the  Temple, 
—  "  Master,  see  what  manner  of  stones  and  what  buildings 
are  here,"  —  to  foretell  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  and 
to  mingle  with  the  sufferings  of  that  time,  and  the  heed  of 
watchfulness  against  them,  the  still  more  awful  terrors  of 
the  Judgment  day,  and  the  still  more  urgent  necessity  of 
a  constant  preparedness  for  it.  It  was  one  of  the  secret 
things  of  the  Almighty,  —  the  coming  of  that  day, — 
known  to  no  man ;  but  for  that  very  reason  made  more  ter- 
rible, for  it  might  burst  at  any  moment  with  its  accom- 
panying doom  upon  their  heads.  "  Take  ye  heed,"  there- 
fore, "  for  ye  know  not  when  the  time  is." 

But  our  Lord  never  taught  only  for  one  time  or  for  one 
occasion  ;  and  in  this  case,  so  soon  as  He  had  pressed  upon 
His  Disciples  the  instruction  He  would  give  them,  He 
transforms  the  topic  into  the  parable  which  forms  my  text, 
and  addresses  it  to  all  future  generations,  closing  with  a 
solemn  admonition :  —  "  And  what  I  say  unto  you  I  say 
unto  all,  Watch." 


Watch  ye  therefore.  555 

How  little  the  world  looks  as  if  it  was  watching  for  any 
such  event  as  the  corning  of  Christ !  To  look  at  it  as  it 
sweeps  along  in  its  fullness  of  life,  it  appears  as  if  its  in- 
habitants expected  it,  with  themselves,  to  endure  forever. 
How  many  ties  of  affection  are  daily  forming  !  How  many 
plans,  extending-  far  into  the  future,  are  arranging  and  ex- 
ecuting !  How  many  hopes,  cherished  in  the  sanctuary  of 
the  heart,  are  looking  for  their  fulfilment  to  long  years 
ahead  !  The  world  is  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and 
giving  in  marriage,  buying  and  selling,  as  if  nothing  was 
ever  to  change  it  from  its  usual  routine.  Ask  its  people 
what  they  dread,  why  their  hearts  are  fainting  within  them  : 
and  they  will  answer  you  :  —  "  We  tremble  at  the  loss  of 
property :  at  the  loss  of  office ;  at  the  loss  of  position  :  at 
the  loss  of  reputation  : 93  but  seldom  u  Because  we  remem- 
ber the  coming  of  the  Lord."  That  has  hut  little  influence 
over  their  minds.  TVhenever  it  crosses  their  thoughts,  it 
is  like  a  far-off  thing1,  floating  in  dim  uncertaintv.  Al- 
though  it  is  quite  as  much  in  the  ordinary  and  probable 
routine  of  things  as  any  event  before  which  they  tremble, 
they  cannot  see  it,  and  will  not  dwell  upon  it.  They  are 
borne  along  by  the  swelling,  rushing  tide  of  life,  and  fear 
nothing  so  much  as  being  separated  from  its  roar  and  tu- 
mult. But  few  seem  to  be  considering  whence  they  came, 
or  whither  they  are  going,  — who  placed  them  here,  or  for 
what  purpose.  They  act  for  the  most  part  as  if  they  were 
mere  bubbles,  rising  by  chance  out  of  the  bosom  of  Life's 
Ocean,  to  float  for  a  time  upon  its  surface,  and  then  to 
burst  and  vanish  forever  !  Xo  thought  of  the  past  ;  no 
thought  of  the  future ;  but  little  thought  of  God  :  the  world 
and  the  present  make  up  every  thing. 

From  this  unsound  and  untrue  condition  of  things  Christ 
would  arouse  those  for  whom  He  died,  and  would  press 
upon  them  consideration  and  watchfulness.    He  would  dis- 


556  Watch  ye  therefore. 

abuse  you  among  the  rest,  my  hearers,  of  the  idea  that  you 
are  without  responsibility  to  God;  that  you  have  merely 
to  pass  through  life  as  it  pleases  you;  and  at  the  end 
lie  down  in  peace  without  any  accountability.  He  would 
awake  you  to  a  higher,  nobler  view  of  things,  point  out 
to  you  your  true  work  on  earth,  and  impress  you  with 
a  full  sense  of  your  glorious  destiny.  He  cannot  consent 
that  those  for  whom  He  shed  His  precious  blood,  for  whom 
He  opened  an  access  to  the  throne  of  God,  for  whom  He 
prepared  a  future  of  unspeakable  glory,  should  pass  through 
life  without  a  single  spiritual  aspiration,  and  then  die 
without  a  well-grounded  hope  of  everlasting  life.  He 
speaks  to  you,  therefore,  this  parable,  and  tells  you  that 
you  all  have  a  work  to  do,  and  an  account  to  give :  a  work 
not  simply  for  yourselves,  but  for  God ;  an  account  to  be 
rendered  not  when  you  may  please  to  be  ready,  but  at  any 
moment  He  may  choose  to  call  for  it,  whether  in  youth,  or 
in  life's  prime,  or  in  the  ripeness  of  old  age. 

The  great  mistake  we  all  make  is  in  confounding  the 
work  we  do  for  the  world  and  for  ourselves,  with  that 
which  we  are  required  to  do  for  God.  Work  for  ourselves 
and  for  the  world  is  as  much  our  duty  as  any  other  moral 
or  social  obligation  which  God  may  have  laid  upon  us  :  but 
it  is  not  all  of  our  duty.  We  hold  two  relations  in  life,  one 
to  this  present  world,  the  other  to  the  world  which  is  to 
come ;  and  we  perform  our  duty  aright  when  we  harmonize 
the  two,  and  while,  living  for  our  families  and  for  society, 
live  also  for  God.  If  we  err  on  either  side,  we  are  wrong. 
If  we  permit  the  one  rod,  even  though  it  be  the  rod  of 
God,  to  swallow  up  the  rest,  we  run  into  error.  When 
our  Saviour  was  asked,  "  Which  is  the  greatest  command- 
ment of  the  Law?"  His  answer  was:  "Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind :  this  is  the  first  and  great  com- 


Watch  ye  therefore.  557 

mandment.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it;  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments 
hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets."  Mark!  on  these  two 
commandments  :  not  on  one,  but  on  both.  And  the  error 
man  is  constantly  committing  is  to  seize  on  one  of  them, 
and  make  that  every  thing.  The  work  which  God  gives  us 
to  do  is  a  happy  conjunction  of  these ;  —  is  to  love  Him  so 
that  a  devout  character  shall  be  carried  into  all  the  rela- 
tions of  life ;  and  then  to  do  our  duty  in  that  station  to 
which  He  has  called  us,  so  as  to  glorify  His  name  upon 
earth.  When  we  achieve  this  harmony,  then  are  we  indeed 
the  true  children  of  Him,  the  combination  of  whose  attri- 
butes is  holiness. 

The  difficulty  which  we  encounter  in  directing  the  minds 
of  men  aright  in  religion,  is  in  persuading  them  that  they 
have  an  especial  work  to  do  for  God,  —  a  work  in  which  He 
is  to  be  glorified  for  Himself.  The  work  which  is  laid  upon 
you  by  your  earthly  relations  is  so  forced  upon  your  notice 
by  the  conditions  of  life,  treads  so  pressingly  upon  your 
heels,  that  you  cannot  overlook  it.  If  you  do,  the  world 
clamors  at  you  so  loudly  that  you  are  fain,  for  very  com- 
fort's sake,  to  take  up  your  burden  and  travel  under  it. 
But  not  so  with  the  work  which  you  have  to  do  for  God. 
That  stands  upon  a  different  footing.  It  is  a  work,  at  least 
in  its  springs,  very  much  of  feeling.  It  is  occupied  with 
prayer,  with  supplications,  with  thanksgiving,  with  praise, 
with  ascriptions  of  glory.  If  not  performed,  you  do  not 
hunger,  nor  thirst,  nor  lack  raiment,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence. The  world  does  not  reprove  you,  nor  cry  out  upon 
you.  You  appear  to  go  along  as  usual,  without  suffering 
any  of  those  immediate  ill  effects  which  flow  from  the  neg- 
lect of  your  worldly  work.  And  therefore  it  is  that  you 
forget  it,^ancl  overlook  it,  and  imagine  that  it  will  never  be 
required  of  you.    But  Christ  explains  the  law  of  God's 


55^  Watch  ye  therefore. 

government  by  the  parable  which  we  are  considering1.  He 
tells  you  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  as  a  man  taking  a  far 
journey,  who  left  His  house,  and  gave  authority  to  His  ser- 
vants, and  to  every  man  his  work.  "  Watch  ye  therefore  : 
for  ye  know  not  when  the  Master  of  the  house  cometh,  at 
even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  the  cock-crowing,  or  in  the 
morning."  The  work  is  left  you  to  do  :  but  it  is  a  work  of 
the  will.  God  obliges  you  to  work  for  yourselves,  that  you 
may  keep  famine  from  your  doors,  vice  from  your  house- 
holds, evil  from  yourselves :  but  He  does  not  force  you  to 
work  for  Him.  His  service,  to  be  of  any  value,  must  be  a 
willing  one,  a  service  of  the  heart ;  and  so  no  temporal 
punishment  of  an  immediate  kind  is  laid  upon  your  neglect 
of  it.  David  frequently  in  the  Psalms  complains  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  ungodly.  This  work  therefore  has  to  be 
perpetually  enforced  upon  your  remembrance.  You  have 
to  be  reminded  that  you  have  duties  distinct  from  the  duties 
of  life,  not  having  their  beginning  nor  their  end  with  man, 
but  with  God.  God  is  a  Father,  and  He  will  not  have  all 
the  love  and  service  of  His  children  given  to  the  world. 
He  forces  them  to  go  abroad  and  fulfil  their  work  of  social 
duty;  but  they  must  return  home  and  cheer  Him  with 
their  love,  their  gratitude  and  their  devotion,  in  return  for 
all  that  He  has  done  for  them.  He  wants  you,  when  you 
have  finished  your  lawful  and  necessary  work,  to  turn  your 
thoughts  to  Him,  and  praise  Him  for  all  His  benefits. 

Much  of  our  work  is  common  to  us  all.  The  curse  of 
labor  is  upon  us,  and  labor  we  must,  in  some  way  or  other. 
But  each  individual  and  each  position  in  life  has  something 
peculiar  to  itself,  and  our  duty  is  to  understand  what  that 
work  is.  And  whatever  it  is,  it  stands  connected  with  that 
which  is  the  paramount  work  of  man,  —  the  salvation  of 
his  soul,  and  the  glorifying  of  God  upon  earthy  It  can 
never  be  fully  performed  unless  that  element  is  developed 


Watch  ye  therefore.  559 

in  harmony  with  it.  For  however  pressing  the  necessity 
of  daily  and  worldly  work,  Christ  has  Himself  told  us  that 
there  is  hut  one  thing  absolutely  needful, — but  one  thing 
which,  if  neglected,  has  no  remedy ! 

Our  Lord  has  given  every  man  his  work,  —  every  man 
his  own  peculiar  work.  Sometimes  it  is  a  work  of  active 
service  ;  sometimes  of  patient  endurance.  Now  it  is  a  work 
to  be  done  in  some  very  obscure  position  ;  and  then  again 
are  we  called  to  fill  and  illustrate  some  lofty  station.  In 
one  instance,  that  work  is  confined  to  the  quiet  monotonous 
routine  of  domestic  life ;  and  in  another,  it  is  performed  in 
the  public  eye,  with  all  men  gazing  upon  us.  In  all,  God 
may  be  glorified,  and  the  name  of  Christ  honored ;  and  in 
all  God  must  be  glorified,  if  we  would  perform  our  work  as 
He  intends  that  it  should  be  fulfilled.  Our  primary  task, 
therefore,  is  to  ascertain  what  our  peculiar  work  is,  and 
how  we  may  perform  it  so  as  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of 
God,  and  secure  the  benefits  and  blessings  of  its  faithful 
performance  to  ourselves.  For  who  gains  by  the  salvation 
of  the  soul,  my  hearer  ?  "  Look  unto  the  heavens,  and  see ; 
and  behold  the  clouds  which  are  higher  than  thou.  If 
thou  sinnest,  what  doest  thou  against  Him?  or  if  thy 
transgressions  be  multiplied,  what  doest  thou  unto  Him  ? 
.  .  .  Thy  wickedness  may  hurt  a  man  as  thou  art ;  and  thy 
righteousness  may  profit  the  son  of  man.5' 1  Is  not  all  tbe 
benefit  to  inure  to  yourself?  Are  you  not  to  be  the  recip- 
ient of  that  life  and  immortality  which  your  Saviour  has 
brought  to  light  ?  Are  you  not  to  escape  that  fearful  doom 
which  is  denounced  against  those  who  lose  their  souls  ? 
How  many  days  and  nights  you  spend  for  the  attainment  of 
objects  which  are  insignificant  when  compared  with  those 
which  are  to  be  attained  through  salvation  !  How  much 
ease  do  you  sacrifice  !  How  much  danger  do  you  risk  ! 
1  Job  xxxv.  5,  6,  8. 


560  Watch  ye  therefore. 

How  much  hardship  do  you  encounter !  And  all  willingly 
and  cheerfully.  If  you  would  only  give  half  the  pains  to 
the  soul  which  you  give  to  the  body,  you  would  find  that 
your  work  of  life  would  he  far  easier,  while  your  soul  would 
he  rejoicing  in  its  redemption  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and 
the  fear  of  death. 

My  hearer,  have  you  ever  asked  yourself  what  is  your  es- 
pecial work  ?  What  is  that  which  the  Lord  has  given  you 
to  do,  while  He  has  gone  upon  that  far  journey  from  which, 
at  any  unexpected  moment,  He  may  return  ?  Some  work 
you  have  to  do  for  the  Lord.  What  is  it  ?  If  you  do  not 
know ;  if  you  have  never  yet  paused  in  the  advance  of  life 
to  find  out ;  if  you  are  plunging  forward  in  darkness  and 
in  ignorance :  woe  unto  you  !  —  for  your  Lord  will  surely 
come  back  and  search  into  your  life  and  actions.  For  we 
are  only  servants,  and  must  give  the  account  which  masters 
require  of  their  servants.  He  will  come  upon  us  unexpect- 
edly ;  and  then  shall  we  be  questioned  of  the  past.  Oh, 
that  terrible  past !  It  has  been  told  us  by  those  who  have 
been  recovered  from  the  unconscious  state  of  drowning, 
that  in  the  few  moments  when  they  were  passing  from  life 
into  that  condition,  every  event  of  the  past  came  over  them 
in  distinct  succession.  They  saw  vividly,  as  in  a  moving 
panorama,  every  act  of  the  life  which  they  deemed  long 
buried  in  oblivion.  They  had  themselves  forgotten  them  ; 
yet  there  they  were,  evoked  from  the  mysterious  chambers 
of  the  mind  by  the  agony  of  that  moment.  And  so  shall  it 
be  when  our  account  is  called  for.  "  God  requireth  that 
which  is  past."  And  His  power  will  be  greater  than  even 
the  power  of  Death.  Not  only  shall  events  come  before  us 
then,  but  every  thing  which  can  in  any  measure  stand  con- 
nected with  sin  ;  —  words,  thoughts,  imaginations,  desires, 
motives,  all  shall  be  summoned  to  testify  of  your  life  and 
your  work :  —  "  What  have  you  done  in  fulfillment  of  the 


Watch  ye  therefore. 


561 


work  which  I  committed  to  you  ?  What  return  is  there  for 
the  trust  which  I  reposed  in  you  ?  How  have  you  acted  in 
the  station  of  life  in  which  I  placed  you  ?  "  It  will  not  do 
to  say,  "  Lord,  I  was  not  idle ;  I  husied  myself  day  and 
night  at  my  counting-house,  or  in  my  shop,  or  with  my 
worldly  work  of  whatever  kind,  and  I  made  my  family  com- 
fortable, and  I  left  my  children  well  to  do  in  the  world." 
The  answer  will  be :  —  "  That  is  all  very  proper  to  a  certain 
extent ;  but  that  was  not  all  the  work  which  I  appointed 
you  to  do.  I  commanded  you  to  love  Me,  and  you  have  en- 
tirely forgotten  Me ;  to  believe  in  My  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and 
you  have  neglected  or  despised  His  claims  to  save  your 
soul ;  and  you  have  never  thought  of  it,  but  have  left  it  to 
decay,  perhaps  to  destruction."  There  will  be  no  discharge 
in  that  war.  We  shall  all  have  to  come  up  to  that  bar,  and 
be  judged  according  to  the  works  done  in  the  flesh.  No 
plea  shall  be  of  any  avail  then,  except  that  we  have  done 
our  work,  —  the  work  appointed  us,  —  in  great  weakness 
perhaps,  and  with  much  infirmity,  but  trusting  in  the  love, 
mercy  and  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour. 

And  is  it  not  well  that  our  Saviour  bids  us  watch  ?  Who 
can  foresee  when  the  Master  will  come  ?  His  messenger 
Death  is  busy  all  around  us,  summoning  our  fellow-crea- 
tures to  His  presence.  His  darts  are  ever  falling  in  the 
homes  which  stand  so  thick  around  us ;  why  not  in  yours, 
my  hearer  ?  No  week  passes  but  some  familiar  name  comes 
wafted  to  us  in  connection  with  that  terrible  Destroyer. 
When  each  week  begins,  who  can  tell  whose  name  will  fol- 
low next?  It  is  the  darkest  of  all  lotteries.  We  know 
only  this,  that  his  harvest  is  forever  going  on ;  that  his 
sickle  is  never  idle ;  and  that  he  is  gathering  in  the  fields 
of  the  world  for  judgment.  Shall  we,  for  this,  live  always 
in  the  fear  of  Death  ?  No !  but  for  this  reason  we  should 
live  in  preparedness  for  it.    We  should  measure  life ;  num- 


Watch  ye  therefore. 


ber  our  days ;  examine  our  work ;  see  that  all  is  ready  for 
the  Master.  Life  is  too  solemn  a  thing  to  be  trifled  with. 
Death  is  too  terrible  an  enemy  to  be  met  unexpectedly. 
Both  demand  watchfulness  :  life,  that  we  may  spend  it 
aright,  and  do  our  allotted  task  ;  Death,  that  we  may  meet 
it  calmly,  feeling  that  it  has  no  sting. 

Are  there  any  of  you,  my  fellow-Christians,  who  have 
permitted  the  circumstances  of  the  times  to  tempt  you  into 
carelessness,  —  to  cause  you  to  cease  your  watchfulness  and 
your  expectation  of  the  sudden  coming  of  your  Lord  ?  Let 
the  solemn  warnings  which  you  have  received,  from  time  to 
time,  arouse  you  from  your  lethargy  and  bring  you  back  to 
watchfulness !  These  are  no  times  for  sleeping !  Death 
seems  unsatisfied  with  the  carnage  of  the  past,  and  is  gath- 
ering himself  for  fresh  slaughter  among  the  children  of 
men.  Pestilence  often  follows  war,  and  already  it  is  hov- 
ering upon  our  coast.  Winter  may  check  it  for  a  time,  but 
if  it  has  its  work  to  do,  the  breath  of  spring  will  come 
laden  with  its  poison.  The  sorrows  of  the  time,  which 
have  overwhelmed  and  made  torpid  so  many  hearts,  are  sent 
by  God  to  prepare  you  for  coming  evil.  Of  all  times,  the 
present  calls  for  watchfulness  and  not  for  apathy  !  Arouse 
yourselves,  children  of  God;  and  while  you  humble  your- 
selves under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  forget  not  that  you 
are  Christ's  servants,  bound  to  do  His  work  in  the  Church 
militant  upon  earth,  and  to  advance  His  kingdom  wherever 
He  may  spread  the  banner  of  the  Cross.  Instead  of  per- 
mitting suffering  to  overcome  your  faith,  let  it  rather  lead 
you  on  to  perfection.  Instead  of  fainting  in  the  day  of 
adversity,  gird  up  your  loins,  and  be  sober,  and  strong  in 
the  Lord.  Instead  of  sleeping  because  the  world  is 
troubled  and  agitated,  rather  stand  upon  your  watch-tower, 
and  await  in  faith  and  patience  the  Coming  of  your  Master. 


An  Extract  from  a  Sermon  preached  at  the  Consecration  of  S* 
Joh?i's  Church,  Savannah,  on  Saturday,  the  ph  of  May,  1853,  on 
the  words  :  "  And  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world,  Amen."  —  S.  Matthew,  xxviii.  20.  After  matters  of 
local  ifiterest,  and  enlarging  on  "soundness  in  the  faith  "  and  the 
"  due  administration  of  the  Sacraments  "  as  two  "  A'otes  "  of  the 
Church,  the  Preaclier  thus  continued :  — 

rilHE  third  note  which  we  offer  as  evidence  that  we  are 


-1-  of  that  Church  with  which  Christ  has  promised  alway 
to  he,  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  is  the  Ministerial  Succes- 
sion. Nor  is  this  an  idle  matter,  for  it  involves  no  less 
than  the  whole  question,  whether  there  be  any  Ministry  at 
all.  If  the  authority  which  Christ  left  with  His  Apostles 
has  been  suffered  to  expire,  whence  hath  it  been  renewed  ? 
And  if  it  hath  not  been  renewed,  where  is  the  Ministry? 
What  right  hath  one  man  more  than  another  to  baptize,  to 
preach,  to  administer  the  sacraments,  to  absolve  from  sin? 
Why  may  not  each  say  to  his  neighbor,  "  Come  and  bap- 
tize me  "  —  "  come  and  consecrate  the  elements,  and  give 
me  to  eat  and  drink  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  my  Saviour  "  ? 
This  seems  preposterous ;  nay,  blasphemous :  and  yet,  if 
there  has  not  been  a  Succession  in  the  Ministry  from  the 
time  of  the  Apostles,  —  if  the  golden  chain  has  ever  been 
broken  at  any  point,  at  any  time,  —  this  very  thing  must 
have  occurred ;  and  having  occurred,  all  ministerial  author- 
ity has  ceased :  for  an  assumed  authority  can  never  have 
become  rightful,  through  how  many  soever  links  it  may  have 


564  The  Apostolic  Succession, 

been  transmitted.  Unless  each  Minister  can  trace  up  to 
the  Apostles,  he  must  reach  a  point  at  which  the  authority 
he  exercises  was  usurped  ;  and  that  usurpation  must  vitiate 
all  that  has  succeeded.  But  there  is  unbroken  ministerial 
Succession.  There  is  a  chain  that  can  be  followed,  link  by 
link,  up  to  the  Apostles,  along  which  hath  descended  the 
authority  which  Christ  intended  should  be  vested,  for  the 
ordinary  purposes  of  His  Church,  in  the  sacred  Ministry. 
We  can  give  you  name  by  name,  Bishop  after  Bishop,  until 
we  touch  S.  John  at  Ephesus,  and  S.  James  at  Jerusalem, 
and  S.  Mark  at  Alexandria ;  —  until  we  join  on  to  the  very 
men  on  whose  heads  Christ  laid  His  hands,  when  He  sent 
them  out  and  commanded  them  "to  preach,  to  heal  the 
sick,  to  cleanse  the  lepers,  to  raise  the  dead,  to  cast  out 
devils."  The  arrangement  of  the  three  Orders  is  broken 
nowhere.  It  commences  with  the  first  establishment  of 
the  Jewish  Church,  when  the  High  Priest,  the  Priests  and 
the  Levites  made  up  the  ministry  of  the  Temple.  It  con- 
tinues when  Christ  with  His  Twelve  and  the  Seventy  made 
up  the  Orders  of  the  nascent  Christian  Church.  The  gap 
is  instantly  filled,  when  Christ,  having  ascended  to  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  left  the  Twelve  and  the  Seventy 
on  earth,  by  the  appointment  of  Deacons.  And  as  the 
Apostles  died  away,  we  find  holy  men  selected  to  fill  their 
places,  and  Timothy  and  Titus  performing  those  offices 
which  Paul  and  Peter  and  James  had  performed,  and  bid- 
den to  transmit  them  to  others  who  should  stand  in  their 
room  :  so  that  the  Fathers  of  the  third  and  fourth  centu- 
ries could  boldly  affirm  that  there  was  not  a  See  of  any 
magnitude  that  could  not  trace  its  Bishops  up  to  the  Apos- 
tles themselves.  And  what  they  said  then,  we  can  affirm 
now.  And  however  the  Succession  may  have  run  at  times 
through  unworthy  channels,  that  no  more  proves  that  it 
came  not  from  the  Apostles,  than  the  muddiness  or  even 


The  Apostolic  Succession,  565 

filthiness  of  a  stream  in  some  particular  part  of  its  course 
would  satisfy  us  that  the  pure  water  which  we  are  drinking 
cannot  be  traced,  through  that  very  polluted  spot,  up  to  its 
crystal  fountain  in  the  mountain  top.  How  vain  is  such 
argumentation  against  the  truth  !  Was  Jesus  Christ  not 
the  Messiah  because  He  came  through  Tainar  and  the  wife 
of  Uriah  ?  Did  these  unworthy  wombs  pollute  the  Promise 
so  that  the  Seed  of  the  Woman  did  not  bruise  the  serpent's 
head  ?  Why,  the  first  principle  of  Protestantism  is,  that  it 
is  the  office  and  not  the  man  which  has  authority  ;  and 
that,  so  there  be  faith  in  the  breast  of  the  recipient,  the 
unworthiness  of  the  Priest  can  effect  no  more  than  his  own 
condemnation  ! 

These  are  the  tokens  and  signs  of  such  a  Church  as  our 
Saviour  has  promised  to  be  with  alway,  to  the  end  of  the 
world.  But  this  promise  is  not  unconditional.  In  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans,  the  Apostle,  in  writing  to  them,  says : 
—  "  And  if  some  of  the  branches  be  broken  off,  and  thou, 
being  a  wild  olive  tree,  wert  graffed  in  among  them,  and 
with  them  partakest  of  the  root  and  fatness  of  the  olive 
tree ;  boast  not  against  the  branches.  But  if  thou  boast, 
thou  bearest  not  the  root,  but  the  root  thee.  Thou  wilt 
say  then,  The  branches  were  broken  off,  that  I  might  be 
graffed  in.  Well ;  because  of  unbelief  they  were  broken 
off,  and  thou  standest  by  faith.  Be  not  highminded,  but 
fear :  for  if  God  spared  not  the  natural  branches,  take  heed 
lest  he  also  spare  not  thee."1  The  only  Church  which 
shall  stand  forever  is  that  which  is  called  in  these  verses  of 
S.  Paul,  the  Root  of  the  Olive  Tree.  Particular  Churches, 
such  as  the  Jewish  Church,  or  the  Roman  Church,  or  the 
Anglican  Church,  are  only  branches  from  that  Root  :  the 
first,  the  natural  branch ;  the  latter,  the  branches  graffed 
in  when  the  other  was  broken  off  and  cast  away.  When 

1  Rom.  xi.  17-21. 


566  The  Apostolic  Succession, 

Christ  therefore  promised  that  He  would  be  with  His 
Church  alway,  to  the  end  of  the  world,  it  was  to  no  partic- 
ular Church  that  He  made  this  promise :  it  was  to  any  and 
every  branch  of  the  Root,  which  He  might  please  to  graff 
in.  It  gives  warrant  to  no  particular  branch  of  this 
Church  of  God  to  say  that  Christ  will  be  with  it  alway,  to 
the  end  of  the  world,  unless  it  preserve  within  itself  the 
faith  of  Abraham,  —  the  righteousness  of  faith,  as  it  is 
called  in  the  Scriptures.  Take,  for  example,  the  very 
Church  to  which  this  Epistle  was  written,  the  Church  of 
Rome,  the  very  Church  to  which  the  Apostle  wrote  the 
words:  "Be  not  highminded,  but  fear.  For  if  God  spared 
not  the  natural  branches,  take  heed  lest  he  also  spare  not 
thee,"  and  see  why  it  is  that  God's  people  were  obliged 
to  come  out  of  her.  It  was  not  because  she  had  not  the 
Ministry,  for  that  she  certainly  has  in  all  its  Orders.  It 
was  not  because  she  had  not  the  Sacraments,  for  she  has 
preserved  both  those  which  Christ  ordained.  It  was  not 
because  she  did  not  hold  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Trinity 
and  the  Atonement,  for  nowhere  are  they  more  decidedly 
taught  than  within  her  bosom.  It  was  not  that  she  did 
not  possess  and  retain  the  Scriptures  as  the  Word  and  Truth 
of  God,  for  she  has  faithfully  kept  them  for  the  Churches 
which  have  purged  themselves  of  her  abominations.  It 
was  because  she  had  overlaid  the  righteousness  of  faith, 
and  had  thus  become  a  corrupt  branch,  although  God  has 
not  yet  broken  her  off  from  the  root  of  the  Olive  Tree.  It 
was  upon  this  ground  the  Reformation  planted  itself,  that 
Rome  had  abandoned  the  righteousness  of  faith;  and  to 
sustain  that  abandonment,  had  added  to  all  these  charac- 
teristics of  a  true  Church  —  the  Ministry,  the  Sacraments, 
the  Scriptures  —  novelties  not  authorized  by  the  Word  of 
God  or  the  customs  of  the  Churches  which  had  been 
planted  by  the  Apostles  and  their  immediate  successors. 


pastoral  Letter 


From  the  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  to  the  Clergy 
and  Laity  of  the  Church  in  the  Confederate  States  of  America  ; 
delivered  before  the  General  Coimcil,  in  S.  Paul's  Church,  Au- 
gusta, Saturday,  November  2 2d,  1862. 

A  T  your  request,  brethren  of  the  Clergy  and  Laity, 


we  conclude  the  session  of  our  First  General  Council 
by  presenting  to  you  and  reading  in  your  presence  a  Pas- 
toral Letter,  addressed  to  the  members  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  scattered  throughout  the  Confederate 
States.  By  the  mighty  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  we  have 
been  permitted  to  bring  our  deliberations  to  a  close  in  a 
spirit  of  harmony  and  peace  which  augurs  well  for  the 
future  welfare  of  our  branch  of  the  Church  Catholic ;  and 
our  first  duty  is  to  thank  Him  who  has  promised  to  be  with 
His  Church  to  the  end  of  the  world,  for  His  presence  with 
us  during  our  consultations,  and  for  the  happy  conclusion 
to  which  He  has  brought  our  sacred  labors. 

Seldom  has  any  Council  assembled  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  under  circumstances  needing  His  presence  more 
urgently  than  this  which  is  now  about  to  submit  its  con- 
clusions to  the  judgment  of  the  Universal  Church.  Forced 
by  the  Providence  of  God  to  separate  ourselves  from  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  —  a 
Church  with  whose  doctrine,  discipline  and  worship  we  are 
in  entire  harmony,  and  with  whose  action,  up  to  the  time 
of  that  separation,  we  were  abundantly  satisfied  —  at  a 
moment  when  civil  strife  had  dipped  its  foot  in  blood,  and 


568  Pastoral  Letter. 

cruel  war  was  desolating  our  homes  and  firesides :  we  re- 
quired a  double  measure  of  grace  to  preserve  the  accus- 
tomed moderation  of  the  Church  in  the  arrangement  of 
our  organic  law,  in  the  adjustment  of  our  code  of  Canons, 
but  above  all,  in  the  preservation,  without  change,  of  those 
rich  treasures  of  doctrine  and  worship  which  have  come  to 
us  enshrined  in  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Cut  off 
likewise  from  all  communication  with  our  sister  Churches 
of  the  world,  we  have  been  compelled  to  act  without  any 
interchange  of  opinion  even  with  our  Mother  Church,  and 
alone  and  unaided  to  arrange  for  ourselves  the  organization 
under  which  we  should  do  our  part  in  carrying  on  to  their 
consummation  the  purposes  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  We 
trust  that  the  Spirit  of  Christ  has  indeed  so  directed,  sanc- 
tified and  governed  us  in  our  work,  that  we  shall  be  ap- 
proved by  all  those  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
sincerity  and  in  truth,  and  who  are  earnest  in  preparing 
the  world  for  His  coming  in  glorious  majesty  to  judge 
both  the  quick  and  the  dead. 

The  Constitution  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  Confederate  States,  under  which  we  have  been  exercis- 
ing our  legislative  functions,  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Church  from  which  we  have  been  providentially  separated, 
save  that  we  have  introduced  into  it  a  germ  of  expansion 
which  was  wanting  in  the  old  Constitution.  This  is  found 
in  the  permission  which  is  granted  to  existing  Dioceses  to 
form  themselves,  by  subdivision,  into  Provinces  ;  and  by 
this  process  gradually  to  reduce  our  immense  Dioceses  into 
Episcopal  Sees,  more  like  those  which,  in  primitive  times, 
covered  the  territories  of  the  Roman  Empire.  It  is  at 
present  but  a  germ,  and  may  lie,  for  many  years,  without 
expansion  ;  but  being  there,  it  gives  promise,  in  the  future, 
of  a  more  close  and  constant  Episcopal  supervision  than  is 
possible  under  our  present  arrangement. 


Pastoral  Letter. 


5^9 


The  Canou  Law,  which  lias  been  adopted  during  our  pres- 
ent session,  is  altogether  in  its  spirit,  and  almost  in  its 
letter,  identical  with  that  under  which  we  have  hitherto 
prospered.  TTe  have  simplified  it  in  some  respects,  and 
have  made  it  more  clear  and  plain  in  many  of  its  require- 
ments :  but  no  changes  have  been  introduced  which  have 
altered  either  its  tone  or  character.  It  is  the  same  moder- 
ate, just,  and  equal  body  of  Ecclesiastical  Law  by  which  the 
Church  has  been  governed  on  this  continent  since  her  re- 
ception from  the  Church  of  England  of  the  treasures  of  an 
Apostolic  Ministry  and  a  liturgical  form  of  worship. 

The  Prayer  Book  we  have  left  untouched  in  every  par- 
ticular, save  where  a  change  of  our  civil  government  and 
the  formation  of  a  new  nation  have  made  alteration  essen- 
tially requisite.  Three  words  comprise  all  the  amendment 
which  has  been  deemed  necessary  in  the  present  emergency, 
for  we  have  felt  unwilling,  in  the  existing  confusion  of 
affairs,  to  lay  rash  hands  upon  a  Book  consecrated  by  the 
use  of  ag'es,  and  hallowed  by  associations  the  most  sacred 
and  precious.  TVe  give  you  back  your  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  the  same  as  you  have  entrusted  it  to  us,  believing 
that  if  it  has  slight  defects,  their  removal  had  better  be  the 
gradual  work  of  experience  than  the  hasty  action  of  a  body 
convened  almost  upon  the  outskirts  of  a  camp. 

Besides  this  actual  legislation  which  we  now  submit  to 
you,  our  assembling  together  has  given  us  a  view  of  the 
condition  of  the  Church  throughout  the  Confederate  States 
which  renders  it  our  duty  to  speak  to  you  as  Chief  Pastors 
over  the  flock  of  Christ :  reminding  you  of  the  peculiar 
encouragements  which  surround  us ;  specifying  the  points 
towards  which  our  efforts,  as  a  Christian  Church,  should  be 
directed ;  and  pointing  out  the  deficiencies  which  require 
instant  correction  and  amendment.  Xo  moment  seems  so 
propitious  for  the  performance  of  this  duty,  as  that  in 


570  Pastoral  Letter. 

which  we  are  beginning  a  new  life  in  the  Church,  and  are 
preparing  to  stamp  ourselves  upon  the  world  for  good  or 
for  evil. 

Our  highest  encouragement  is  derived  from  the  fact  that 
we  hold  the  sacred  trust  of  the  Faith  once  delivered  to  the 
Saints,  and  that  we  hold  it  in  connection  with  a  Ministry 
whose  succession  from  Christ  and  His  Apostles  is  un- 
doubted, and  with  a  form  of  worship  simple  and  pure  yet 
sublime  and  Scriptural.  These  are  not  gifts  to  make  a 
boast  of,  but  to  use  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  advance- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom.  Far  from  filling  us  with  vain 
glory,  their  possession  should  humble  us  to  the  dust,  unless 
we  approve  ourselves  faithful  stewards  of  such  inestimable 
treasures.  To  whom  much  has  been  committed,  from  him 
will  much  be  required  ;  and  it  remains  for  us  to  prove  whe- 
ther we  have  deserved  so  spiritual  an  inheritance.  But  pos- 
sessing them,  we  may  rightfully  feel  that  we  enter  upon  our 
warfare  with  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  having  all 
the  strength  that  Divine  Truth  and  a  Divine  Commission 
can  give  us.  We  can  press  on,  without  any  doubts  resting 
upon  our  hearts  as  to  the  Truth  which  we  are  teaching,  as 
to  the  validity  of  the  Sacraments  which  we  are  administer- 
ing, or  as  to  the  authority  of  the  Orders  which  we  are 
transmitting.  Upon  all  these  points  we  are  secure;  and 
we  can  go  forward  offering  to  all  men,  with  boldness  and 
confidence,  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
fellowship  of  the  Saints.  Whatever  hindrances  we  may 
meet,  or  whatever  contradiction  of  men  we  may  encounter, 
we  can  rest  assured  that  truth  will  finally  prevail,  and  that 
God  will  set  His  Son  upon  His  holy  hill  of  Zion. 

Our  next  source  of  encouragement  is  that  we  enter  upon 
our  work  with  our  Dioceses  fully  organized,  and  with  the 
means  which  Christ  has  instituted  in  His  Church  well  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  Confederate  States.    When  we 


Pastoral  Letter,  1  571 

remember  the  very  different  auspices  under  which  the  ven- 
erated Fathers  of  the  American  Church  began  their  work, 
and  mark  how  it  has  grown  and  prospered,  we  should  in- 
deed take  courage  and  feel  no  fear  for  the  future.  In  their 
case  all  their  ecclesiastical  arrangements  had  to  be  organ- 
ized :  in  our  case  we  find  these  arrangements  all  ready  to 
our  hand,  and  with  the  seal  of  a  happy  experience  stamped 
upon  them.  In  their  case  every  prejudice  of  the  land  was 
strong-  against  them :  in  our  case  we  go  forward  with  the 
leading  minds  of  our  new  Republic  cheering  us  on  by  their 
communion  with  us,  and  with  no  prejudications  to  over- 
come, save  those  which  arise  from  a  lack  of  acquaintance 
with  our  doctrine  and  worship.  In  their  case  they  were 
indeed  few  and  separated  far  from  one  another  in  their 
work  upon  the  walls  of  Zion  :  in  our  case  we  are  com- 
paratively well  compacted,  extending  in  an  unbroken  chain 
of  Dioceses  from  the  Potomac  to  the  confines  of  the  Re- 
public. Despite  all  those  disadvantages,  "  the  little  one  be- 
came a  thousand  and  the  small  one  a  strong  nation,"  and 
shall  we  despond  P  If  we  be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the 
things  that  remain,  our  God  will  not  forsake  us,  but  will 
"  lengthen  our  cords  and  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  our 
habitations."  In  visible  token  of  this  fact,  we  have 
already,  since  our  organization,  added  to  the  House  of 
Bishops  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Wilmer  as  Bishop  of  Alabama, 
and  received  into  communion  with  the  Church  the  Diocese 
of  Arkansas. 

Another  source  of  encouragement  is  that  there  has  been 
no  division  in  the  Church  in  the  Confederate  States.  Be- 
lieving, with  a  wonderful  unanimity,  that  the  Providence  of 
God  had  guided  our  footsteps,  and  for  His  own  inscrutable 
purposes  had  forced  us  into  a  separate  organization,  there 
has  been  nothing  to  embarrass  us  in  the  preliminary 
movements  which  have  conducted  us  to  our  present  posi- 


572  Pastoral  Letter. 

tion.  With  one  mind  and  with  one  heart  we  have  entered 
upon  this  blessed  work ;  and  we  stand  together  this  day  a 
band  of  brothers,  one  in  faith,  one  in  hope,  one  in  charity. 
There  may  be  among  us,  as  there  always  must  be,  minute 
differences  of  opinion  and  feeling,  but  there  is  nothing  to 
hinder  our  keeping  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace.  We  are  all  satisfied  that  we  are  walking  in  the 
path  of  duty,  and  that  the  light  of  God's  countenance  has 
been  wonderfully  lifted  up  upon  us.  He  has  comforted  us 
in  our  darkest  hours,  and  has  not  permitted  our  hearts  to 
faint  in  the  day  of  adversity. 

These  striking  encouragements,  vouchsafed  to  us  from 
the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  should  fill  our  hearts 
with  earnest  devotedness,  and  should  make  us  even  now  to 
inquire,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  us  to  do  ?  "  And 
the  answer  to  this  question  will  lead  us,  your  Chief  Pas- 
tors, to  specify  the  points  towards  which  our  efforts,  as  a 
Christian  Church,  should  be  especially  directed. 

Christ  has  founded  His  Church  upon  love  :  for  God  is 
Love.  It  is  the  highest  of  all  Christian  graces.  "  And 
now  abideth  Faith,  Hope,  Charity,  these  three,  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  Charity."  Charity  !  not  mere  alms-giv- 
ing, which  is  only  one  of  its  manifestations :  but  love,  Chris- 
tian Love  !  As  Christ  our  Lord  loved  the  world  so  divinely 
that  He  was  satisfied  to  suffer  all  things  for  its  redemption : 
so  does  He  command  us  to  love  one  another,  and  to  be 
ready  to  do  all  things  for  each  other's  salvation.  This  was 
His  especial  commandment :  "A  new  commandment  give 
I  unto  you,  that  ye  love  one  another."  And  this  is  truly 
not  only  the  new  commandment,  but  the  summary  of  all 
the  commandments.  The  whole  Gospel  is  redolent  with  it, 
with  a  broad,  comprehensive,  all-embracing  love,  appointed, 
like  Aaron's  rod,  to  swallow  up  all  the  other  Christian 
graces,  and  to  manifest  the  spiritual  glory  of  God  in  Christ. 


Pastoral  Letter, 


573 


A  Church  without  love!  What  could  you  augur  of  a 
Church  of  God  without  Faith,  or  a  Church  of  Christ  with- 
out Hope  ?  But  Love  is  a  higher  grace  than  either  Faith 
or  Hope,  and  its  absence  from  a  Church  is  just  the  absence 
of  the  very  life-blood  from  the  body. 

Our  first  duty,  therefore,  as  the  children  of  God,  is  to 
send  forth  from  this  Council  our  greetings  of  love  to  the 
Churches  of  God  all  the  world  over.  We  greet  them  in 
Christ,  and  rejoice  that  they  are  partakers  with  us  of  all 
the  grace  which  is  treasured  up  in  Him.  We  lay  down  to- 
day before  the  Altar  of  the  Crucified  all  our  burdens  of 
sin,  and  offer  our  prayers  for  the  Church  militant  upon 
earth.  Whatever  may  be  their  aspect  towards  us  politically, 
we  cannot  forget  that  they  rejoice  with  us  in  the  "one 
Lord,"  the  "  one  Faith,  the  "  one  Baptism,"  the  "  one  God 
and  Father  of  all,"  and  we  wish  them  God-speed  in  all  the 
sacred  ministries  of  the  Church.  Nothing  but  love  is  con- 
sonant with  the  exhibition  of  Christ's  love  which  is  mani- 
fested in  His  Church ;  and  any  note  of  man's  bitterness,  ex- 
cept against  sin,  would  be  a  sound  of  discord  mingling  with 
the  sweet  harmonies  of  earth  and  heaven.  We  rejoice  in 
this  golden  cord  which  binds  us  together  in  Christ  our 
Redeemer ;  and,  like  the  ladder  which  Jacob  saw  in  vision, 
with  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon  it, 
may  it  ever  be  the  channel  along  which  shall  flash  the 
Christian  greetings  of  the  children  of  God. 

But  while  we  send  forth  this  love  to  the  whole  Church 
militant  upon  earth,  let  us  not  forget  that  special  love  is 
due  by  us  towards  those  of  our  own  household.  To  us 
have  been  committed  the  treasures  of  the  Church ;  and 
those  of  our  own  kindred  and  lineage,  who  have  sprung 
from  our  loins  both  naturally  and  spiritually,  who  are  now 
united  with  us  in  a  sacred  conflict  for  the  dearest  rights  of 
man,  ask  us  for  the  bread  of  life.    They  pray  us  for  that 


574  Pastoral  Letter. 

which  we  are  commanded  to  give, — the  Gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God.  They  put  in  no  claim  for  any  thing  worldly 
—  for  any  thing  alien  from  the  mission  of  the  Church. 
Their  petition  is  that  we  will  fulfill  the  very  purpose  of  our 
institution,  and  give  them  the  means  of  grace.  Every 
claim  which  man  can  have  upon  his  fellow-man,  they  have 
upon  us ;  and  having  these  claims,  they  ask  only  for  the 
Church.  They  pray  us  not  to  let  them  perish  in  the  wilder- 
ness ;  not  to  permit  them  to  be  cut  off  from  the  sweet  com- 
munion of  the  Church.  "  If,"  says  the  Apostle,  speaking  of 
Christian  professors,  and  alluding  to  mere  earthly  things, 
"  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and  especially  for  them  of 
his  own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than 
an  infidel."  What,  then,  shall  we  say  of  that  Church 
which  shall  not  provide  for  its  own  children  ?  How  can  it 
hope  to  be  watered  itself  with  gracious  rain  from  Heaven, 
when  it  hoards  up  for  itself  the  river  of  life,  which  is  or- 
dained to  flow  through  its  channels  of  grace  ? 

Many  of  the  States  of  this  Confederacy  are  Missionary 
ground.  The  population  is  sparse  and  scattered ;  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Church  are  few  and  far  between ;  the  Priests 
of  the  Lord  can  reach  them  only  after  great  labor  and  pri- 
vation. Hitherto  has  their  scanty  subsistence  been  eked 
out  from  the  common  treasury  of  our  united  Church.  Cut 
off  from  that  recourse  by  our  political  action,  in  which 
they  have  heartily  acquiesced,  they  turn  to  us  and  pray 
us  to  do  at  least  as  much  for  them  as  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  do  for  the  Church  from  which  they  have  been  sep- 
arated by  a  civil  necessity.  We  can  do  what  they  ask,  and 
we  ought  cheerfully  to  do  it.  Unless  we  take  care  that  the 
Gospel  is  sent  to  these  isolated  children  of  the  Church,  who 
will  heed  their  cry  ?  They  have  no  Church  to  cry  to,  but 
the  Church  which  we  now  represent ;  and  they  cast  them- 
selves upon  us  in  full  faith  that  we  will  do  our  whole  duty 


Pastoral  Letter.  575 

towards  them.  They  are  one  with  us  in  faith,  in  care,  in 
suffering" ;  they  are  bearing  like  evils  with  those  which  dis- 
turb us ;  and  they  have  no  worship  to  cheer  and  support 
them,  no  Gospel  to  preach  to  them  patience  and  long-suf- 
fering. For  Christ's  sake  they  pray  that  they  may  be  given 
at  least  a  Mother's  bosom  to  die  upon. 

Voices  of  supplication  come  to  us  also  from  the  distant 
shores  of  Africa  and  the  East :  but  only  their  echo  reaches 
us  from  the  Throne  of  Grace.  The  policy  of  man  has  shut 
out  those  utterances  from  us.  How  it  can  help  their  cause 
to  separate  the  children  of  God  from  one  another,  He  only 
knows :  but  we  can  hear  them  when  we  kneel  in  prayer,  and 
commune  with  their  spirits  through  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 
But  God  is  perchance  intending,  through  these  inscrutable 
measures,  to  shut  us  up  to  that  great  work  which  He  has 
placed  at  our  very  doors,  and  which  is,  next  to  her  own  ex- 
pansion, the  Church's  greatest  work  in  these  Confederate 
States.  The  religious  instruction  of  the  negroes  has  been 
thrust  upon  us  in  such  a  wonderful  manner,  that  we  must 
be  blind  not  to  perceive  that  not  only  our  spiritual  but  our 
national  life  is  wrapped  up  in  their  welfare.  With  them 
we  stand  or  fall ;  and  God  will  not  permit  us  to  be  separated 
in  interest  or  in  fortune. 

The  time  has  come  when  the  Church  should  press  more 
urgently  than  she  has  hitherto  done  upon  her  laity,  the  sol- 
emn fact,  that  the  slaves  of  the  South  are  not  merely  so 
much  property  :  but  are  a  sacred  trust  committed  to  us,  as 
a  people,  to  be  prepared  for  the  work  which  God  may  have 
for  them  to  do  in  the  future.  While  under  this  tutelage 
He  freely  gives  to  us  their  labor,  but  expects  us  to  give 
back  to  them  that  religious  and  moral  instruction  which  is 
to  elevate  them  in  the  scale  of  being.    And  while  inculcat- 


576 


Pastoral  Letter. 


ing  this  truth,  the  Church  must  offer  more  freely  her  min- 
istrations for  their  benefit  and  improvement.  Her  laity 
must  set  the  example  of  readiness  to  fulfill  their  duty  to- 
wards these  people  ;  and  her  clergy  must  strip  themselves 
of  pride  and  fastidiousness  and  indolence,  and  rush,  with 
the  zeal  of  martyrs,  to  this  labor  of  love.  The  teachings  of 
the  Church  are  those  which  best  suit  a  people  passing  from 
ignorance  to  civilization ;  because,  while  it  represses  all 
fanaticism,  it  fastens  upon  the  memory  the  great  facts  of 
our  religion,  and  through  its  objective  worship  attracts  and 
enchains  them.  So  far  from  relaxing,  in  their  case,  the 
forms  of  the  Church,  good  will  be  permanently  done  to 
them  just  in  proportion  as  we  teach  them  through  their 
senses  and  their  affections.  If  subjected  to  the  teachings 
of  a  bald  spiritualism,  they  will  find  food  for  their  senses 
and  their  child-like  fancies  in  superstitious  observances  of 
their  own,  leading  too  often  to  crime  and  licentiousness. 

It  is  likewise  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  press  upon  the 
masters  of  the  country  their  obligation,  as  Christian  men, 
so  to  arrange  this  institution  as  not  to  necessitate  the  vio- 
lation of  those  sacred  relations  which  God  has  created,  and 
which  man  cannot,  consistently  with  Christian  duty,  annul. 
The  systems  of  labor  which  prevail  in  Europe,  and  which 
are,  in  many  respects,  more  severe  than  ours,  are  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  prevent  all  necessity  for  the  separation  of  pa- 
rents and  children  and  of  husbands  and  wives  :  and  a  very 
little  care  upon  our  part  would  rid  the  system,  upon 
which  we  are  about  to  plant  our  national  life,  of  these  un- 
christian features.  It  belongs,  especially,  to  the  Episcopal 
Church  to  urge  a  proper  teaching  upon  this  subject,  for  in 
her  fold  and  in  her  congregations  are  found  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  great  slaveholders  of  the  country.  We 
rejoice  to  be  enabled  to  say  that  the  public  sentiment  is 
rapidly  becoming  sound  upon  this  subject,  and  that  the 


Pastoral  Letter.  577 

legislatures  of  several  of  the  Confederate  States  have 
already  taken  steps  towards  this  consummation.  Hitherto 
have  we  been  hindered  by  the  pressure  of  abolitionism. 
Now  that  we  have  thrown  off  from  us  that  hateful  and  infi- 
del pestilence,  we  should  prove  to  the  world  that  we  are 
faithful  to  our  trust ;  and  the  Church  should  lead  the  hosts 
of  the  Lord  in  this  work  of  justice  and  of  mercy. 

Another  duty,  which,  for  the  present,  devolves  upon  the 
Church,  is  an  oversight  of  the  children  of  God,  as  they  lie 
without  religion  and  without  Christian  care  in  the  camps 
and  hospitals  of  our  Government.  Far  he  it  from  us  to  say 
that  there  has  been  no  Christian  supervision  of  our  sol- 
diers ;  and  we  cheerfully  concede  all  praise  and  thanks  to 
those  who  have  done  their  duty  through  danger  and  priva- 
tion :  but  we  must  affirm  that  there  is  still  a  great  lack  of 
service  on  the  Church's  part  in  this  connection.  From 
whatever  cause  it  has  arisen,  whether  from  the  scarcity  of 
clergymen,  or  from  unwillingness  to  bear  the  hardships  of 
the  soldiers'  life,  we  are  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  we 
have  been  unable  to  find  men  who  were  willing  to  answer 
this  call,  and  to  take  their  places,  not  as  soldiers  fighting 
for  their  country,  but  as  soldiers  fighting  for  the  victory  of 
Christ  over  sin  and  death.  In  the  opinion  of  the  House  of 
Bishops,  no  position  is  more  suited,  at  this  moment,  to  the 
true  spirit  of  Christ  and  His  Church,  than  that  of  a  faithful 
minister  of  the  grace  of  God  and  of  the  Sacraments  of  the 
Church  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  or  in  the  hospital :  and 
we  would  urge  it  upon  those  ministers  who  have  been  exiled 
from  their  parishes,  to  enter  upon  this  work  as  their  pres- 
ent duty,  trusting  for  support  to  Him  who  has  said,  "  I  will 
never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee." 

The  most  striking  deficiency  in  the  Church's  work  which 
37 


573 


Pastoral  Letter. 


we  perceive  in  looking  at  the  Church's  life,  is  a  lack  of  zeal 
in  spreading  the  influences  of  the  Church  through  her  Ser- 
vices and  Sacraments.  Our  ministry  has  become  too  local 
and  sedentary,  too  well  satisfied  to  sit  down  and  do  the 
work  which  it  has  undertaken  to  do,  overlooking  the  fields 
white  for  the  harvest  which  are  spread  out  all  around  them, 
and  which  cannot  be  cultivated  save  through  their  agency. 
Every  well-established  congregation  should  consider  itself 
as  a  centre  of  Missionary  work,  and  should  encourage  its 
pastor  to  extend  his  usefulness  beyond  its  own  limits,  and 
while  he  is  a  Priest  to  them,  to  be,  in  some  measure,  a  Mis- 
sionary to  all  about  him.  As  long  as  the  selfish  idea  is  in- 
dulged, that  a  minister  is  tied  down  to  a  local  congrega- 
tion, and  has  no  business  to  work  around  him,  the  Church 
must  languish,  or  increase  but  slowly.  Missionaries  cannot 
be  furnished  for  every  village  and  neighborhood  ;  and  these 
must  remain  uncared  for  by  the  Church,  unless  the  settled 
clergy  will  make  up  their  minds  to  extend  the  sphere  of 
their  operations  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  their  own  im- 
mediate cures. 

Another  deficiency  which  requires  amendment,  is  the 
little  spiritual  intercourse  which  takes  place  among  the 
Clergy  in  their  work  for  the  Church.  Each  man  works  in 
his  sphere  :  but  for  the  most  part  he  gives  nothing  to  his 
brother  clergyman,  and  receives  nothing  from  him  in  re- 
turn. When  our  Lord  sent  forth  His  Apostles,  He  sent 
them  two  by  two,  for  the  evident  purpose  that  they  should 
support,  strengthen,  and  comfort  each  other.  The  spirit  of 
this  action  is  very  much  overlooked  in  the  Church,  and  the 
Clergy  are  weakened  by  it.  While  the  House  of  Bishops 
would  not  specify  any  mode  by  which  this  defect  should  be 
remedied,  it  would  recommend  to  the  Clergy  a  more  free, 
spiritual  intercourse,  a  more  frequent  interchange  of  cler- 
ical services,  greater  communion  in  prayer  and  in  counsel. 


Pastoral  Letter.  579 

3Xany  a  despondent  heart  would  thus  be  cheered,  and  many 
a  weak  brother  would  be  comforted  and  strengthened. 

Another  deficiency  which  requires  amendment,  is  the 
little  spiritual  help  which  is  given  to  the  Clergy  by  the 
Laity,  We  have  uo  reference  now  to  the  temporal  support 
of  the  Clergy,  although  we  might  well  dwell  upon  that : 
but  to  the  spiritual  help  which  a  Christian  Laity  might 
give  to  the  Clergy.  In  reading  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
we  find  many  illustrations  of  this  truth  ;  and  we  perceive 
how  the  greatest  of  the  Apostles  was  not  above  the  help  of 
his  yoke-fellows  in  the  Gospel.  There  are  many  ways  in 
which  spiritual  and  earnest  Laymen  can  help  their  Clergy 
in  the  work  of  the  Church,  and  under  their  guidance  and 
direction,  can  become  valuable  Missionaries  of  Christ,  even 
while  unordained.  It  requires  sacrifice  and  self-denial ; 
but  we  must  all  remember  that  we  are  not  our  own,  but  are 
bought  with  a  price,  and  belong  to  Christ,  body,  soul  and 
spirit. 

But  over  and  above  all  these  special  deficiencies,  looms 
up  that  greatest  of  all  deficiencies,  the  lack  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  and  with  our  Churches.  Because  of  the  degree  to 
which  spiritual  influences  have  been  abused  in  our  land,  we 
have  been  tempted  to  run  into  the  other  extreme,  and  to 
forget  that  we  are  living  under  what  the  Apostle  calls  the 
dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  the  Church's  work 
must  derive  all  its  power  from  His  presence.  Our  danger 
is,  to  merge  the  Holy  Ghost  into  the  means  of  grace,  and 
overlook  the  important  fact  that  He  is  a  personal  agent, 
acting  indeed  through  those  means,  but  not  necessarily  tied 
to  them.  Our  Saviour  said  :  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  and  thou  nearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not 
tell  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every 
one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  And  as  with  the  individ- 
ual, so  with  the  Church.    The  Holy  Spirit  will  be  in  the 


580  Pastoral  Letter. 

Church,  if  His  presence  is  kept  there  by  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  His  power,  by  a  sense  of  His  necessity,  by  a  con- 
stant prayer  for  His  presence ;  but  the  addresses  to  the 
Churches  in  Asia  Minor  instruct  us  to  be  watchful  over  our- 
selves, and  to  hold  fast  by  Him,  who  is  the  representative 
of  Christ  upon  earth,  while  Christ  is  interceding  and  advo- 
cating for  us  in  Heaven.  Let  the  Church  and  her  Min- 
isters always  bear  in  mind,  that  the  growth  of  the  Church 
and  the  vitality  of  the  Church  are  "  not  by  might,  nor 
by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,"  saith  the  Lord. 

And  now  it  only  remains  for  us  to  bid  you,  one  and  all, 
an  affectionate  farewell.  We  cannot  but  remember  that 
when  we  last  separated  from  you,  there  stood  among  us  two 
venerated  brethren,  dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord,  who  have 
since  entered  into  their  rest.  When  we  parted  we  knew  it 
must  be  so,  but  we  could  not  foresee  where  the  hand  of 
Death  would  fall.  And  now  again  we  know,  that  separat- 
ing once  more  for  the  like  space  of  time,  we  shall  not  all 
meet  again.  Whose  shall  be  the  summons  ?  Well  for  us 
that  the  curtain  of  God's  providence  hides  this  knowledge 
from  us,  teaching  us  the  lesson  of  Christian  truth,  that  we 
must  all  watch  and  be  sober,  because  we  know  neither  the 
day  nor  the  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  cometh.  May 
God's  gracious  Providence  guide  you  in  safety  to  your 
homes,  and  preserve  them  from  the  desolations  of  war. 
And  should  we  not  be  permitted  to  battle  together  any 
more  for  Christ  in  the  Church  militant,  may  we  be  deemed 
worthy  to  be  members  of  the  Church  triumphant,  where 
with  Prophets,  Apostles,  Martyrs,  Saints  and  Angels,  we 
may  ascribe  honor  and  glory,  dominion  and  praise  to  Him 
that  sitteth  upon  the  Throne,  and  to  the  Lamb,  forever  ! 


an  at>t>re&3 


At  the  Funeral  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Nicholas  Hamner  Cobbs,  D.  D., 
late  Bishop  of  Alabama,  delivered  in  S.  John's  Church,  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama,  on  Sunday,  ya?iuary  13th,  1861. 

FT1HE  year  has  opened  upon  us,  Fellow-Churchmen  and 


Fellow-Christians,  with  a  great  public  sorrow.  This 
smitten  congregation,  this  vast  assemblage  of  sympathizing 
friends,  this  crowd  of  bereaved  Clergymen,  this  Church 
clad  in  the  deep  habiliments  of  mourning,  all  attest  that 
the  grief  which  lies  heavy  upon  us  is  of  no  private  charac- 
ter. It  is  not  a  single  family,  or  a  single  circle,  which 
mourns  to-day ;  but  it  is  every  family,  and  every  circle,  of  a 
large  and  wide-spread  communion.  It  is  not  one  congre- 
gation only,  that  bows  its  head  in  the  dust,  and  sits  silent 
under  the  chastening  hand  of  God  ;  but  it  is  every  congre- 
gation of  this  extended  Diocese.  And  beyond  its  limits  are 
thousands  of  the  good  and  the  devout,  who  share  with  us 
our  grief  for  the  death  of  this  holy  servant  of  God,  and 
whose  prayers  are  this  day  ascending  to  Heaven  on  the 
wings  of  the  Holy  Dove  in  behalf  of  his  widow,  of  his  chil- 
dren, of  his  people,  of  his  Clergy,  of  the  Church  of  the 
Living  God.  And  through  this  wide  land  are  hearts  weep- 
ing for  him  to-day,  as  for  a  Father;  are  voices  uttering 
blessings  upon  his  name  for  all  the  good  he  has  done  to 
them.  And  many,  who  never  looked  upon  his  face,  are 
placing  upon  his  grave  the  tribute  of  love,  for  the  gentle 
goodness  whose  fragrance  reaches  even  unto  them ;  of 
reverence,  for  the  holiness  which  made  him  precious 


582         At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cob 5s. 

among  the  saints  of  God.  We,  who  stand  here  weeping 
over  his  dead  body,  are  hut  the  representatives  of  multi- 
tudes, who  are  shedding  their  tears  in  the  privacy  of  their 
own  households.  We,  who  utter  in  this  place  our  broken 
words  of  love  and  sorrow,  are  only  the  leaders  of  hosts, 
who  are  lifting  up  to  God  the  voice  of  supplication  for 
strength  and  comfort  under  this  sore  affliction.  For  there 
is  yet,  thanks  be  to  God !  virtue  enough  left  among  men  to 
enable  them  to  recognize  the  embodiment  of  goodness,  and 
grace  enough  to  lead  them  to  pay  homage  to  the  reflection 
of  their  Saviour's  image. 

And  well  does  his  memory  deserve  all  this  love,  and  all 
this  gushing  tribute  of  affection.  From  his  youth,  up  to 
the  moment  when  the  silver  cord  was  loosed,  was  he  him- 
self a  creature  of  unselfishness,  lavishing  upon  all  around 
him  the  bounties  of  his  goodness  and  the  warmth  of  his 
affection.  Never  has  he  sought  his  own  things,  but  always 
the  things  of  others.  Wherever  in  his  ministry  the  Spirit 
of  God  has  called  him,  that  sphere  has  been  warmed  by  the 
kindliness  of  his  nature,  and  the  earnestness  of  his  piety. 
Whether  toiling  as  a  Missionary  among  the  valleys  of  his 
own  beloved  Virginia,  or  laboring  as  a  Pastor  in  the  exact- 
ing congregations  of  towns  and  cities,  or  standing  beside 
the  fountains  of  Science  and  sweetening  their  waters  with 
the  truths  of  Christianity,  or  building  up  the  Church  in 
this  almost  virgin  Diocese :  he  has  left  everywhere  the  like 
impress  of  himself.  He  has  ever  walked  in  an  atmosphere 
of  love ;  and  those  among  whom  he  has  wandered  rise  up, 
even  to  this  day,  and  call  him  blessed.  Heartfelt  gratitude 
has  followed  him  all  his  days.  Affection  has  sweetened  his 
whole  pathway  of  life.  Devotion  has  filled  Heaven  with 
prayers  in  his  behalf;  and  now  that  he  has  sunk  to  his  rest, 
there  is  showered  upon  his  grave  all  this  pent-up  tribute  of 
sincere  devotion.    He  verified  in  his  life,  and  in  his  death, 


At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs.  583 

that  striking  beatitude :  "  Blessed  are  the  meek  :  for  they 
shall  inherit  the  earth." 

How  comforting  it  is  to  stand  beside  the  dead,  and  see 
that  Christ's  promises  have  been  fulfilled  in  life  and  in 
death  !  And  in  no  one  has  this  been  more  strikingly  ex- 
hibited, than  in  our  beloved  brother.  He  was  enabled  by 
faith,  first  to  overcome  the  world ;  and  then,  by  a  like  faith 
to  overcome  Death  and  the  Grave.  Few  men  have  been 
more  in  the  world  than  the  holy  Bishop  whose  life  we  are 
illustrating,  while  few  men  have  been  less  of  the  world.  A 
soldier  of  the  Cross  from  early  manhood,  a  warrior  for 
Christ  all  his  life  through,  —  a  warrior,  too,  who  never 
shrank  from  any  post,  or  any  duty,  a  Missionary,  a  Priest, 
a  Chaplain,  a  Bishop,  —  he  yet  was  kept  unspotted  from  the 
world.  It  had  no  charms  for  him  ;  or,  if  it  had,  lie  tram- 
pled them  under  foot  with  an  unsparing  severity.  He 
moved  among  men  always  as  the  Minister  of  God,  as  the 
Ambassador  for  Christ.  No  one  could  ever  mistake  his 
character,  or  his  purpose.  While  he  was  gentle  unto  all 
men,  he  was  never  pliant ;  while  he  was  wary  in  the  pur- 
suit of  the  great  purposes  of  Christ's  Kingdom  upon  the 
earth,  nothing  turned  him  aside  from  their  consummation. 
Baffled  to-day,  he  resumed  his  efforts  to-morrow.  Disap- 
pointed in  his  spiritual  aims,  he  renewed  his  heart  through 
prayer,  and  worked  afresh.  His  whole  soul  was  thrown 
into  the  advancement  of  Christ's  Church,  because  he  be- 
lieved that  Church  to  be  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
Truth.  He  was  never  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  but  preached  it  ever  as  the  Wisdom  of  God,  and  the 
Power  of  God  unto  Salvation.  Worldliness  he  rebuked ;  un- 
godliness he  denounced ;  and  maintained  a  strict  discipline 
over  the  Church  of  Christ.  And  God  rewarded  his  faith- 
fulness in  life  by  His  Presence  in  death,  and  bore  him  in 
peace  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  to  that 
"  rest  which  remaineth  to  the  people  of  God." 


584         At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs. 

Bishop  Cobbs  was  remarkable  in  every  feature  of  his 
ministerial  life :  remarkable,  because  peculiar.  As  a  Pas- 
tor, he  was  unrivalled.  Carrying  into  every  house  the  gen- 
tle, loving  spirit  of  which  we  have  spoken,  he  wound  him- 
self about  the  hearts  of  young  and  old,  so  that  their  affec- 
tion for  him  became  an  indissoluble  tie.  It  was  not  in  his 
case,  as  too  often  it  is,  a  mere  transient  admiration  of  a 
Clergyman's  powers,  or  a  Clergyman's  manners,  but  it  as- 
sumed the  unchangeable  form  of  a  relationship.  It  con- 
tinued through  life.  It  died  not  out  with  his  removal  to 
another  sphere,  but  he  remained  the  beloved  Pastor  until 
death  destroyed  the  bond.  No  subsequent  tie  could  ever 
obliterate  that  first  spiritual  love.  Wherever  he  went,  or 
whatever  he  became,  his  children  in  the  Lord  followed  his 
wanderings  with  the  eye  of  unchanging  affection,  and  never 
swerved  from  their  allegiance.  And  this  was  the  result  of 
his  earnest  self-devotedness  to  the  interests  of  his  people, 
combined  with  that  indescribable  power  of  insinuating  him- 
self into  their  deepest  affections.  It  is  useless  to  attempt  to 
analyze  it,  because,  even  if  analyzed,  it  could  not  be  imi- 
tated, for  it  belonged  to  the  man.  It  was  that  which  con- 
stituted, as  a  Pastor,  his  peculiar  power.  And  this  rich,  un- 
ceasing fountain  of  sympathy  made  him  a  true  comforter 
in  affliction  or  disease ;  a  welcome  visitor  in  every  abode  of 
poverty  or  sorrow.  It  was  a  living  manifestation  of  the 
power  of  Christian  love.  He  carried  with  him  none  of  the 
artificial  manners  of  the  world ;  he  took  no  pains  to  be  a 
courtier,  or  a  truckler ;  he  spoke  with  honest  fearlessness, 
yet  with  discretion,  the  words  of  truth :  yet  everybody 
loved  him,  and  no  one  was  ashamed  to  be  governed  by  his 
counsel.  He  moved  in  and  out  among  his  people,  the  ser- 
vant of  all,  and  yet  the  head  of  all ;  the  humble  man  of 
God,  and  yet  the  unopposed  Ambassador  for  Christ  and  His 
Church. 


At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs.  585 

Bishop  Cobbs  was  remarkable  as  a  Preacher:  remark- 
able again,  because  peculiar.  And  that  peculiarity  con- 
sisted in  two  things,  one  of  which  came  to  him  by  nature, 
and  the  other  by  grace.  He  possessed,  naturally,  a  clear 
insight  into  character ;  and  this,  combined  with  a  daily  ex- 
amination of  his  own  heart,  made  him  one  of  the  clearest 
and  most  searching  pulpit  orators  of  the  Church.  He 
tracked  sin  through  all  its  hiding-places  with  an  unerring 
sagacity,  and  laid  bare  the  defects  of  the  life  of  God  in  the 
soul  with  the  skill  of  a  spiritual  anatomist.  It  required  a 
very  spiritual  state  of  mind  to  follow  him ;  and  sometimes 
the  hearer  was  lost,  because  the  speaker  was  passed  beyond 
his  depth.  To  the  growing  Christian  his  pulpit  instruc- 
tions were  surpassingly  useful ;  and  many,  whom  in  his 
earlier  days  he  led  into  the  way  of  life,  would  never  con- 
sent to  compare  anybody's  teaching  with  his.  This  was 
one  peculiarity ;  the  other,  I  grieve  to  say,  is  still  more  un- 
common :  the  presence,  in  his  preaching,  of  the  unction 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Alas!  how  few  attain  that  mighty 
power !  How  seldom  are  the  words  of  the  preacher 
steeped  in  the  oil  of  the  Sanctuary,  so  that  they  glide  into 
the  hearts  of  the  hearers,  and  become  as  nails  driven  into 
a  sure  place  !  He  possessed  it  in  an  eminent  degree,  and 
his  sermons  upon  ordinary  occasions  always  impressed  the 
hearer  with  the  feeling  that  the  preacher  had  woven  them, 
not  out  of  his  mind,  but  out  of  his  spirit  in  communion 
with  the  Spirit  of  God.  And  these  peculiarities  constitute 
the  elements  of  pulpit  excellence.  With  these,  many  de- 
fects of  manner  and  style  can  be  forgiven :  without  these, 
our  words,  however  harmonious  and  rhetorical,  are  but  as 
sounding  brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal. 

Our  beloved  Bishop  was  remarkable,  likewise,  in  his 
Episcopal  character :  remarkable  again,  because  peculiar. 
And  that  peculiarity  consisted  in  his  ruling  everybody 


586         At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cob 5s. 

through  the  power  of  gentleness.  No  Bishop  of  our 
Church  has  ever  had  around  him  a  more  devoted  Clergy,  or 
a  more  united  Laity ;  and  yet  no  Bishop  has  ever  assumed 
as  little  authority  over  either  Clergy  or  Laity.  Their  de- 
votion to  him  was  the  spontaneous  tribute  of  affection,  to 
one  whom  they  perceived  to  be  spending  himself  in  their 
service,  and  who  had  no  aims  save  those  which  he  believed 
to  be  the  aims  of  Christ  and  His  Church.  His  prudence 
and  his  wisdom  were  manifest  to  all ;  and  when  these  are 
combined  with  a  sincere  and  unselfish  piety,  they  are  irre- 
sistible. No  points  ever  arose  between  him  and  his  Con- 
vention ;  and  when  he  was  drawn,  against  his  will  and 
against  his  nature,  into  the  controversies  of  others,  his 
wise  conclusions  were  always  sustained.  And  this  is  the 
true  influence  of  a  Bishop,  when  he  wields  authority,  not 
because  the  Law  gives  it  to  him,  but  because  his  people  are 
assured  that  he  will  assume  none  which  is  not  clearly  his ; 
and  will  exercise  even  that,  wisely  and  discreetly.  This  en- 
tire confidence  in  their  Bishop  was  manifested  only  a  year 
or  two  since  by  the  Convention  of  this  Diocese,  when  it 
placed,  unhesitatingly,  its  whole  Missionary  operations  in 
his  hands,  trusting  implicitly  to  his  better  knowledge  of 
the  wants  and  necessities  of  his  Diocese.  And  well  might 
they  have  reposed  this  perfect  trust  in  him,  for  he  spared 
no  pains  in  the  oversight  of  his  Episcopate.  He  was  ever 
on  the  wing,  travelling  through  heat  and  cold,  through 
storm  and  sunshine,  in  the  highways  and  byways,  exposed 
to  every  inconvenience  to  which  one  may  be  subjected  in 
these  days  of  improvement ;  seeking  out  the  children  of 
the  Church  wherever  they  might  be  found  scattered  in  the 
waste  places  of  the  land.  His  journeys  were  unceasing,  his 
labors  enormous,  and  no  fear  of  personal  discomfort  ever 
kept  him  from  his  duties.  And  when  he  indulged  himself 
with  a  little  rest  in  the  home  of  his  affections,  his  active 


At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs.  587 

mind  was  busy  in  the  device  of  glorious  things  for  the 
Church  of  God.  He  worked  out,  in  these  moments  of  re- 
pose, an  ideal  for  the  future,  which  was  to  concentrate 
around  the  Bishop,  in  the  heart  of  this  Metropolis,  all  the 
efficient  agencies  of  Church  work  :  schools  for  the  lambs 
of  the  flock ;  seminaries  for  students  of  every  kind ;  nur- 
series for  instruction  in  all  the  routine  of  benevolence ;  and, 
rising  from  their  midst,  a  Cathedral  Church,  from  which 
should  daily  ascend  the  prayers  and  praises  of  God's  peo- 
ple, and  from  which  should  radiate  to  the  extremities  of 
the  Diocese  the  holy  influences  of  Christianity.  This  ideal 
has  Death  scattered,  for  the  present,  as  it  does  so  many 
other  ideals ;  but  seed  sown  by  the  righteous,  and  watered 
by  their  prayers,  never  perishes.  The  time  will  come, 
when  he  will  be  remembered  as  the  wise  and  holy  man  of 
God,  who  looked  far  into  the  future,  and  saw  in  vision  the 
glorious  things  of  the  Church  of  his  Redeemer. 

And  God  has  richly  blessed  the  work  and  labor  of  his 
hands.  Receiving  this  Diocese  from  the  hands  of  its  en- 
ergetic Missionary  Bishop  some  sixteen  years  ago,  he  has 
moulded  it  into  its  present  strength  and  compactness.  It 
has  increased  more  than  five  fold  under  his  untiring  labors, 
carried  on  through  numberless  disadvantages.  In  the 
early  part  of  his  Episcopate  he  was  subjected  to  great  toil 
in  reaching  his  places  of  appointment,  for,  even  to-day,  it 
is  a  most  laborious  Diocese  to  traverse.  But  through  it  all 
he  persevered,  establishing  this  point,  confirming  that; 
planting  new  Churches  in  the  wilderness,  and  reconstruct- 
ing the  old ;  upholding  the  weak ;  comforting  the  per- 
plexed ;  cheering  the  despondent :  a  true  leader  of  the 
hosts  of  God,  whose  trumpet  never  gave  an  uncertain 
sound.  No  one,  who  has  not  passed  through  the  experi- 
ence of  a  Missionary  Bishop,  can  understand  or  appreciate 
the  severity  and  variety  of  his  labors.    Set  apart  to  build 


588        At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs. 

up  the  Church  of  Christ  in  an  unkindly  soil,  it  would  be  an 
arduous  task,  even  though  he  were  helped  with  all  the  ap- 
pliances of  human  agency.  But  when  he  is  sent  alone, 
without  the  aid  of  proper  assistants,  without  money  at  his 
command,  to  assist  the  feeble  parishes  and  animate  the 
strong ;  encountering  here  lukewarm ness,  and  there  indif- 
ference, aiui  everywhere  ungodliness :  it  demands  a  heart 
of  steel,  and  a  spirit  warmed  by  the  perpetual  sunshine  of 
God's  countenance,  to  accomplish  the  work  of  the  Lord. 
That  our  beloved  brother  was  enabled  so  gloriously  to  ful- 
fill his  mission,  he  owed  to  the  grace  of  God,  working  in 
and  through  his  rare  personal  qualities.  These  he  laid,  in 
all  humility,  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  and  received  in  return 
the  strength  which  cometh  from  Jesus  Christ,  the  Crucified 
Saviour,  the  Risen  Advocate  and  Intercessor. 

In  the  higher  Councils  of  the  Church,  our  brother  held 
an  enviable  position.  His  character  gave  him  great  power 
among  his  brethren  of  the  Episcopate,  and  in  the  House 
of  Bishops  his  opinion  always  carried  great  weight.  He 
did  not  mingle  much  in  its  debates ;  but  when  he  chose  to 
speak,  no  man  was  more  attentively  listened  to,  or  more 
generally  approved.  It  was  a  matter  of  regret  that  he  did 
not  express  his  views  more  freely ;  but  his  great  humility 
displayed  itself  in  this,  that  he  esteemed  others  better  than 
himself.  "  He  was  willing,"  he  said,  "to  be  instructed  by 
those  who  were  older  in  the  Episcopate,"  and  thus  held  his 
tongue,  even  from  good  words.  But  when  he  would  permit 
himself  to  give  utterance  to  his  opinions,  he  was  sure  to 
make  his  mark  ;  for  wisdom  sat  upon  his  lips,  and  integrity 
swayed  every  movement  of  his  heart.  Good  sense,  deep 
wisdom,  and  unchanging  kindness  of  utterance,  were  the 
characteristics  of  his  speeches  :  and  never  did  he  rise  with- 
out casting  light  upon  the  subject  which  he  treated ;  and 
—  what  was  better — never  did  he  close,  without  casting 


At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs.  589 

over  the  assembly  the  spell  of  his  loving  heart.  We  shall 
mourn  the  absence  of  his  spirit  from  our  Councils,  for,  we 
shall  never  see  again  precisely  his  counterpart. 

And,  if  missed  from  the  General  Council  of  the  Church, 
how  much  more  deeply  shall  we  feel  his  absence  in  that 
narrower,  but  more  intimate  Council,  in  which  he  has  com- 
muned with  his  brethren  in  behalf  of  the  interests  of 
Literature  and  Science  in  our  Southern  Dioceses  !  It  was 
there  we  felt  his  value,  for  he  cast  his  whole  heart  and  soul 
into  the  elevation  of  the  standard  of  learning  in  the  Church 
and  in  the  Country.  He  was  totally  dissatisfied  with  the 
superficial  education  of  the  United  States ;  and  his  earn- 
est wish  was,  to  bring  back  the  olden  times  of  English 
learning,  when  scholarship  and  piety  were  indissoluble  com- 
panions. Often  have  we  talked  over  this  hope,  in  inter- 
course which  I  can  never  forget ;  and  how  his  eye  would 
kindle,  and  his  form  dilate,  as  he  opened  his  views  for  the 
future  of  our  University,  and  lifted  up  a  standard  of  schol- 
arship such  as  few  men  even  conceive  of  in  this  present 
day !  It  was  upon  occasions  like  these  that  I  first  discov- 
ered the  latent  enthusiasm  of  his  character  5  —  how  he 
kept  down,  under  the  restraints  of  duty  and  of  grace,  a 
spirit  which  could  flame  forth,  when  time  and  opportunity 
permitted,  into  an  ardor  that  was  electric,  and  that  filled 
his  hearers  with  amazement  and  admiration.  And  this  en- 
thusiasm he  was  prepared  to  cast  into  the  work  of  the  Uni- 
versity, and  promote,  with  his  wise  counsels,  its  early  es- 
tablishment. It  was  getting  very  near  his  heart :  but  now, 
all  that  is  left  us  is  the  memory  of  his  sagacity,  and  the 
duty  of  enshrining  him  as  one  of  its  earliest  friends  and 
wisest  architects. 

Such  a  heart,  and  such  a  soul,  so  gentle,  so  loving,  so 
full  of  goodness,  could  only  arise  out  of  a  Religion  that 
was  deeply  personal. 


590         At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs. 

His  theology  was  fixed  and  definite ;  but  it  was  his  per- 
sonal piety  which  distinguished  the  man.  He  was  one  of 
the  holiest  men  I  have  ever  met,  and  the  very  radiance  of 
his  face  told  the  passer-by  that  he  lived  with  Jesus.  In 
the  last  communication  which  he  made  to  his  Clergy,  he 
says :  "  As  to  my  hope  of  justification  with  God,  tell  them 
that  6  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion, that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.' 
I  have  been  called  a  good  man,  a  kind  man,  from  my  youth 
up.  I  do  not  say  whether  justly,  or  otherwise.  I  have 
tried  to  show  kindness  and  sympathy  to  all,  especially  to 
the  poor,  to  the  afflicted,  and  to  the  bereaved ;  and  I  am 
certain  that  I  do  not  now  bear  malice,  or  cherish  unkind 
feelings,  towards  anybody  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  But, 
if  I  have  done  any  kind  deeds,  or  any  good  works,  I  am 
sure  I  make  no  merit  of  them,  but  cast  them  all  behind  my 
back,  and  nauseate  them,  and  spit  upon  them  as  '  filthy 
rags ; '  and  counting  myself  an  6  unprofitable  servant,'  I 
look  only  unto  Jesus,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  Faith, 
and  say : 

'  In  my  hand  no  price  I  bring, 
Simply  to  Thy  Cross  I  cling.'  " 

And  this  was  a  fitting  close  to  a  life  of  entire  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  Christ.  He  knew  no  other  master  than  Jesus 
Christ,  and  Him  crucified  :  and  "  next  to  Christ  who  is  the 
Head,  he  loved  the  Church,"  to  use  his  own  language, 
"which  is  His  Body,  with  his  whole  heart."  Trusting 
thus  in  the  Blood  of  the  Atonement ;  rejoicing  that  Christ 
had  died  for  his  sins,  and  risen  for  his  justification,  he  sub- 
mitted himself  to  the  Sovereign  Will  of  God.  "  I  know 
not  yet,  with  certainty,  what  is  to  be  the  issue  of  this  sick- 
ness. I  have  no  will  nor  wish  in  the  matter.  c  Nor  life 
nor  death  I  crave ' ;  but  simply  to  do,  to  bear,  to  suffer, 
and  to  glorify  the  will  of  God."  And  with  this  humble, 
submissive  spirit,  he  went  his  way  to  his  Father's  home. 


At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs,  591 

And  well  may  you,  1113"  hearers,  arid  all  the  Church  over 
which  he  had  the  oversight,  lament  to-day,  in  dust  and 
ashes ;  for  you  have  lost,  at  this  most  critical  period  of 
your  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs,*  one  whose  prayers  were 
mighty  before  God,  and  whose  counsels  were  prevalent 
among  men.  Most  grievous  is  the  affliction,  when,  at  any 
time,  and  under  any  circumstances,  a  faithful  Bishop  is 
taken  from  his  flock;  hut  it  is  overwhelming,  when  his 
light  is  put  out  just  as  that  flock  is  entering  into  the  dark 
cloud  of  trouble  and  of  perplexity.  Yet  such  is  your  con- 
dition to-day.  Just  when  his  people  most  need  consola- 
tion; just  when  his  Clergy  most  require  the  counsels  of 
a  wise  experience ;  just  when  the  Church  is  to  be  guided 
through  a  period  of  change,  and  therefore  of  peril:  your 
earthly  guide  and  counsellor  is  taken  to  his  rest.  And  such 
a  guide  !  so  gentle,  yet  so  wise ;  so  loving,  yet  so  firm ;  so 
modest,  yet  so  influential ;  so  full  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  yet 
knowing  how  to  move  warily  among  the  children  of  men. 

It  is  indeed  —  for  I  end  as  I  began  —  "  a  great  public  sor- 
row ;  "  and  well  may  the  State,  equally  with  the  Church, 
lament  that  so  holy  a  man  has  been  taken  away  in  this  her 
hour  of  trial,  perchance  of  peril.  For  such  men  as  he  — 
men  of  prayer,  and  men  of  truth  —  constitute  the  strength 
and  power  of  a  State.  They  are  "  the  horses  and  the  char- 
iots of  Israel."  Well,  therefore,  may  the  tears  of  States- 
men mingle  with  the  tears  of  women,  and  the  grief  of  age 
be  uttered  side  by  side  with  the  grief  of  childhood.  It  is  a 
conjunction  worthy  of  him,  who  came  so  near  to  his  Sa- 
viour's ideal  of  conduct,  that  he  should  be  "  wise  as  a  ser- 
pent, and  harmless  as  a  dove." 

But  he  has  not  left  you  without  counsel  in  this  emer- 
gency.   He  has  counselled  you,  year  after  year,  from  this 

*  Bishop  Cobbs  departed  in  peace  about  fifteen  minutes  before  the  cannon 
announced  that  the  "  Ordinance  of  Secession  "  had  passed. 


592         At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs. 

pulpit,  telling  you  where  to  look  for  wisdom  and  for 
strength,  in  every  hour  of  your  necessity.  His  finger  has 
pointed  you  unswervingly  to  the  Throne  of  Grace  ;  and  all 
his  lessons  have  taught  you,  that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent 
reigneth,  and  that  He  holdeth  in  His  keeping  the  hearts 
of  all  men.  He  has  counselled  you  in  his  daily  intercourse 
with  you,  teaching  in  season  and  out  of  season,  that  God  is 
Love,  and  that  He  watches  over  His  children,  with  a  ten- 
derness surpassing  the  love  of  woman,  keeping  them  as 
the  apple  of  an  eye.  He  has  counselled  you  by  his  daily 
walk  and  conversation,  showing  you,  in  his  own  life,  what 
it  is  to  move  daily  and  hourly  in  the  faith  of  God,  and  in 
the  righteousness  of  Christ.  And  now  has  he  counselled 
you  by  his  death,  showing  you  how  one,  born  weak  and 
sinful  and  corrupt,  can  glorify  God,  even  in  his  infirmities ; 
can  triumph  over  sickness,  and  pain,  and  death ;  can  lie 
down  in  peace,  assured  that  "  them  also  which  sleep  in 
Jesus,  will  God  bring  with  Him." 

For  you,  brethren  of  the  Clergy,  has  he  left  a  more  par- 
ticular and  special  blessing.  He  had  you  in  his  heart,  all 
through  his  weeks  of  suffering :  for  he  knew  your  sorrow, 
and  he  could  sympathize  with  it.  "  Give  to  each  and  every 
one  of  them,"  are  his  own  touching  words,  "  individually, 
my  love  and  my  blessing;  and  tell  them,  that  as,  during 
my  whole  Episcopate,  it  has  been  my  earnest  purpose  and 
constant  endeavor  to  be,  and  to  show  myself  to  be,  the  per- 
sonal friend  and  helper  of  every  Clergyman  in  my  Diocese  : 
so  now,  I  have  them  still  in  my  heart.  And,  with  my  fare- 
well blessing  upon  them,  upon  their  families,  upon  their 
parishes,  and  upon  my  whole  Diocese,  tell  them,  that  their 
dying  Bishop  exhorts  them,  in  Christ's  name,  to  study  to 
be  men  of  God  :  men  of  peace,  men  of  brotherly  kindness, 
men  of  charity ;  self-denying  men,  men  of  purity  of  char- 
acter, men  of  prayer ;  men  striving  to  perfect  holiness  in 


At  the  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs.  593 

the  fear  of  God,  and  laboring  and  preaching  with  an  eye 
single  to  His  Glory,  and  the  salvation  of  souls." 

I  dare  not  intrude  myself  into  the  sacred  sanctuary  of 
his  home.  Private  loves  and  private  griefs  belong  not  to 
the  public  eye.  They  are  for  the  heart,  and  for  God.  ♦  But 
I  may  be  permitted  to  say  to  you,  out  of  the  fullness  of  a 
loving  heart,  that  his  widow  and  his  children  have  the  sin- 
cerest  sympathy  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  that  their 
names  will  be  carried  upon  the  wings  of  prayer  to  that 
Comforter,  who  alone  knoweth  how  to  comfort  all  them 
that  are  afflicted.  Your  richest  legacy  is  his  character : 
your  surest  trust,  the  promises  of  God,  made  to  the  seed 
of  the  righteous.  May  His  peace,  that  peace  which  pass- 
eth  all  understanding,  abide  with  you,  now  and  forever ! 

And  now,  let  us  take  the  aged  warrior  to  his  rest.  His 
time  of  work  is  over.  The  sun  has  set  upon  his  day  of  la- 
bor. The  hour  of  rest  has  come:  and  he  is  given  that 
blessedness,  which  none  but  a  Christian  warrior  can  know, 
—  the  blessedness  of  the  transition  state  from  the  work  of 
earth  to  the  work  of  Heaven.  Oh  the  sweetness  of  that 
word  rest !  To  cease  from  all  the  weariness  of  life ;  to  be 
done  with  its  cares,  its  perplexities,  its  sorrows,  its  mis- 
eries ;  to  have  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  ended 
the  struggle ;  to  have  finished  the  work  which  God  has 
given  us  to  do :  and  now  to  lie  down,  and  be  at  peace. 
The  Psalmist  expressed  it,  when,  in  the  weariness  of  his 
struggles,  he  cried,  "  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  for 
then  would  I  flee  away  and  be  at  rest."  S.  Paul  expressed 
it,  when,  aged  and  worn,  he  exulted  in  his  approaching 
end  :  "  For  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of 
my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith :  henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness."  1  S.  John 
1  2  Tim.  iv.  6-8. 

38 


594         At  ^  Funeral  of  Bishop  Cobbs. 

proclaimed  it,  as  an  utterance  from  Heaven,  when  he  said  : 
"  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  me,  Write, 
Blessed  are  the  dead,  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  hence- 
forth :  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their 
labors ;  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 1  It  was  rest 
that  our  beloved  warrior  craved ;  —  rest  from  sin,  rest  from 
warfare,  rest  from  responsibility,  rest  from  temptation,  rest 
from  the  solemn  work  of  life :  and  God  gave  him  the  boon 
when  He  dismissed  him  from  his  post :  "  Go  thou  thy  way, 
till  the  Great  Day :  faithfully  hast  thou  done  thy  work. 
Now  shalt  thou  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the 
days."  2 

i  Ker.  xiv.  13.  2  Daniel  xii.  13. 


